1603 Apr 5, New English king
James I departed Edinburgh for London.
(MC, 4/5/02)

1614 Apr 5, American Indian
princess Pocahontas (d.1617) married English Jamestown colonist John
Rolfe in Virginia. Having converted to Christianity, she went by the
name Lady Rebecca. Their marriage brought a temporary peace between
the English settlers and the Algonquians.
(HN, 5/5/97)(SFEC, 10/15/00, p.T12)(AP, 4/5/08)
1614 Apr 5, 2nd parliament of
King James I began session (no enactments).
(MC, 4/5/02)

1626 Apr 5, Jan van Kessel
(d.1679), Flemish painter, was born. He was the grandson of Jan
Breughel. He is known for his small paintings on copper and wood.
His “Study of Butterflies, Spiders, Lizards, a Beetle, an Ant, a
Grasshopper and Other Insects" sold at a Sotheby’s auction in 2000
for $1,655,750.
(WSJ, 6/9/00, p.W10)(MC, 4/5/02)

1722 Apr 5, On Easter Sunday
Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen discovered a Polynesian Island 1400
miles from the coast of South America and named it Easter Island. He
noted that the island was treeless and wondered how its massive
statues were erected. Much of the population was later wiped out and
the island became a possession of Chile. An indigenous script called
rongorongo survived but by 2002 was still not deciphered. In 2005
Steven Roger Fischer authored “Island at the End of the World: The
Turbulent History of Easter Island."
(WSJ, 1/7/05,
p.W1)(http://islandheritage.org/eihistory.html)(Econ, 7/23/05, p.77)

1732 Apr 5, Jean Honore
Fragonard (d.1806), France, painter, was born. He painted "The Shady
Grove." Hubert Robert was a painter friend and the painting "La
Jardinaire" was painted by one or the other.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Honor%C3%A9_Fragonard)(AAP,
1964)(WSJ, 2/19/99, p.W12)

1856 Apr 5, Booker T.
Washington, Black American educator, was born in Franklin County,
Va. The former slave later founded the Tuskegee Institute. Booker
Taliaferro Washington later became the 1st black on US stamp. His
autobiography "Up From Slavery" was listed in 1999 as the 3rd best
work of non-fiction in the English language in the 20th century by
the Modern Library.
(AP, 5/5/97)(HN, 4/5/99)(SFC, 4/29/99, p.C5)

1908 Apr 5, Bette Davis
(d.1989), film actress (Jezebel, All About Eve), was born. "Love is
not enough. It must be the foundation, the cornerstone -- but not
the complete structure. It is much too pliable, too yielding."
(AP, 7/15/99)(HN, 4/5/01)
1908 Apr 5, Herbert von
Karajan, Nazi, conductor (Berlin Philharmonic), was born in Austria.
(MC, 4/5/02)
1908 Apr 5, George Schick,
conductor (Chicago Symphony), was born in Prague, Czech.
(MC, 4/5/02)
1908 Apr 5, Japanese Army
reached the Yalu River as the Russians retreated.
(HN, 5/5/97)

1915 Apr 5, Jack Johnson
(1878-1946), African-American heavyweight champion boxer since 1908,
lost the heavyweight championship in Cuba to Jess Willard in the
26th round.
(SFC, 1/17/05,
p.D6)(www.hickoksports.com/biograph/johnsonjack.shtml)
1915 Apr 5, Black American
educator Booker T. Washington (b.1856) died. His autobiography "Up
From Slavery" was listed in 1999 as the 3rd best work of non-fiction
in the English language in the 20th century by the Modern Library.
(AP, 4/5/97)(WUD, 1994, p.1611)(SFC, 4/29/99,
p.C5)

1925 Apr 5, A few people
gathered in Robinson’s drugstore in Dayton, Tennessee, agree that
the Butler Bill, opposing the teaching of evolution, might provide a
grand opportunity for profit if they can arrange for the trial to
happen in their town.
(Nat. Hist., 4/96, p.74-76)

1937 Apr 5, Colin Powell, U.S.
Army general, was born in Bronx, New York. He later became the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Persian Gulf War
and first African American to serve in the position. In 2000
Pres.-elect Bush appointed him to be Sec. of State.
(HFA, '96, p.28)(HN, 4/5/99)(SSFC, 12/17/00,
p.A14)

1941 Apr 5, German commandos
secured docks along the Danube River in preparation for Germany's
invasion of the Balkans.
(HN, 4/5/99)

1943 Apr 5, The British 8th
Army attacked the next blocking position of the retreating Axis
forces at Wadi Akarit.
(HN, 4/5/99)

1944 Apr 5, 140 Lancasters
bombed airplane manufacturer in Toulouse.
(MC, 4/5/02)
1944 Apr 5, In Lithuania 40
prisoners filed off their chains and fled through a narrow tunnel at
Paneriai. Jewish and Soviet prisoners had been brought to the Ponar
forest from Stutthof concentration camp. They were forced to dig up
mass graves, collect bodies and burn them. Guards quickly discovered
the prisoners and many were shot, but 11 prisoners managed to escape
to the forest, reach partisan forces and survive the war. In 2016 an
international research team pinpointed the location of the tunnel.
(AP, 6/29/16)

1949 Apr 5, The 60 year old St.
Anthony's Hospital burned and killed 77 in Effingham, Ill.
(MC, 4/5/02)

1951 Apr 5, Husband and wife
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg of New York City were sentenced to death
by Judge Irving R. Kaufman on charges of selling US atomic secrets
to the Soviet Union, enabling the Soviets to detonate their first
nuclear weapon in 1949. Although the couple consistently claimed to
be innocent, a jury of 11 men and one woman found them guilty on
March 30 on the evidence provided by key government witness David
Greenglass, Ethel Rosenberg's brother. Co-defendant Morton Sobell
was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He was released in 1969. The
Rosenbergs were electrocuted on June 19, 1953, leaving behind two
young sons.
(CL, 4/5/96)(AP, 5/5/97)(HN, 5/5/97)(HNPD,
4/5/99)(AP, 4/5/04)
1951 Apr 5, In San Francisco
the first fully separate food section made its Chronicle debut.
(SSFC, 6/7/09, p.W3)

1955 Apr 5, Richard J. Daley
was elected mayor of Chicago. He served 6 terms until his death in
1976.
(www.chipublib.org/004chicago/mayors/daley1.html)(Econ, 3/18/06,
Survey p.14)
1955 Apr 5, Winston Churchill
resigned as British prime minister. He was replaced by Anthony Eden
who served to 1957. Eden's biography by Sir Robert Rhodes James
(d.1999 at 66) was published in 1987.
(HN, 5/5/97)(SFC, 5/25/99, p.Be)

1967 Apr 5, Pres. Johnson
appointed Ellsworth Bunker (1894-1984) as the new ambassador to
Saigon, South Vietnam. Bunker replaced Lodge and continued as
ambassador to 1973.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Ambassador_to_South_Vietnam)

1968 Apr 5, Riots erupted
across the US following the King assassination.
(CL, 4/5/96)
1968 Apr 5, In Vietnam the
siege of Khe Sahn ended after 76 days.
(HN, 5/5/97)

1970 Apr 5, Six Nepalese
Sherpas died in an avalanche during a Japanese skiing expedition on
Everest.
(SFC, 5/15/96,
A-10)(www.everestsummiteersassociation.org/listofdeadoneverst.htm)

1972 Apr 5, The Harrisburg 7
trial ended in mistrial after 11 weeks. Philip Berrigan & Sister
Elizabeth McAllister were declared guilty, but only of smuggling
letters in & out of prison. Librarian Zoia Horn (d.2014) had
refused to testify at the trail, becoming the first US librarian to
be jailed for refusing to testify. She was freed after 20 days when
a jury deadlocked on conspiracy charges.
(www.well.com/~mareev/TIMELINE/1971-1972.html)(SFC, 7/16/14, p.E5)

1973 Apr 5, Pioneer 11, built
to be a backup if Pioneer 10 failed, was launched from Kennedy Space
Center in Florida, on an Atlas-Centaur rocket, on a trajectory
similar to Pioneer 10. After Pioneer 10 completed the first ever
successful encounter with Jupiter, Pioneer 11 was re-targeted, even
while it was flying outward, for an eventual encounter with Saturn
after its visit to Jupiter in December, 1973.
(http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/ThePioneers.html)

1974 Apr 5, The World Trade
Center (WTC), the tallest building in the world at 110 stories,
opened in NYC.
(HN, 5/5/97)

1975 Apr 5, Chiang Kai-shek
(b.1887), Chinese statesman and president of the Republic
(1943-1950) and President of the Republic of China, Taiwan
(1950-1975), died at age 87. Madame Chiang Kai-shek (Soong Mayling)
moved to New York following her husband's death. In 1982 Sterling
Seagrave authored "The Soong Dynasty." In 2009 Jay Taylor authored
“The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern
China."
(WUD, 1994, p.254)(AP, 5/5/97)(SFC, 1/27/00,
p.E1,5)(Econ, 5/9/09, p.86)

1976 Apr 5, Tom Stoppard's
"Dirty Linen," premiered in London.
(www.donshewey.com/theater_reviews/dirty_linen.html)
1976 Apr 5, Reclusive
billionaire Howard Hughes died in Houston at age 72. In 1993 Charles
Higham authored “Howard Hughes: The Secret Life." In 1996 Peter
Harry Brown and Pat H. Broeske authored "Howard Hughes: The Untold
Story." Hughes had hired a coterie of Mormons to take care of his
confidential business. These included Frank William Gay (1920-2007),
who led Hughes’ Summa Corp. from 1970-1978.
(AP, 4/5/97)(SFC, 10/21/00, p.A24)(WSJ, 5/26/07,
p.A6)
1976 Apr 5, James Callaghan
became PM of England. He served until May 4, 1979.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Callaghan)

1979 Apr 5, The play “Faith
Healer" by Brian Friel opened on Broadway with James Mason as Frank.
It closed after 3 weeks.
(Econ, 2/25/06,
p.88)(www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=3933)

1980 Apr 5, Eleven Puerto Rican
FALN members were arrested for attempting to rob an armored truck at
Northwestern University; three were linked to the raid on the
Carter-Mondale campaign headquarters. Several of those arrested were
granted clemency in 1999.
(WSJ, 9/14/99, p.A22)
1980 Apr 5, Sister Margaret Ann
Pahl (71) was stabbed 31 times and strangled to death. Her body was
found in the chapel of Mercy Hospital, Toledo, Ohio. In 2004 Rev.
Gerald Robinson (63) was arrested for the murder. In 2006 Robinson
was convicted of murder. On July 4, 2014, Robinson, who continued to
maintain his innocence, died in a prison hospice unit.
(SFC, 4/24/04, p.A2)(SFC, 5/12/06, p.A3)(AP,
7/4/14)

1981 Apr 5, It was reported
that Yugoslav authorities appeared to be sending extra militia units
to the southern province of Kosovo after nationalist demonstrations
in which 35 people were injured and scores arrested.
(http://tinyurl.com/2n6atk)

1982 Apr 5, Abe Fortas
(b.1910), former Supreme court justice (1965-1969), died. He had
resigned on May 14, 1969, under pressure for the acceptance of an
allegedly illegal payment from a former business associate.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abe_Fortas)
1982 Apr 5, Lord Carrington
(b.1919) resigned as Britain’s foreign secretary.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Carington,_6th_Baron_Carrington)

1984 Apr 5, In California Tina
Faelz (14) was stabbed to death in a culvert under I-680 while she
was walking home from school in Pleasanton. Fellow students
discovered her body shortly afterward. On Aug 8, 2011, the
Pleasanton Police Department announced that Steven J. Carlson (43),
a former classmate of the Foothill High student has been arrested in
her killing. In 2012 his case was transferred to adult court. On Oct
30, 2014, Carlson was convicted of first-degree murder.
(SFC, 8/9/11, p.A1)(SFC, 1/11/12, p.C3)(SFC,
10/31/14, p.D2)
1984 Apr 5, Arthur Travers
("Bomber") Harris (b.1892), marshal of British RAF, died.
(www.ihr.org/jhr/v05/v05p431_Lutton.html)

1986 Apr 5, A Berlin nightclub
was bombed. US Sgt. Kenneth Ford (21) and Nermin Hannay (29) died at
the scene. Sgt. James Goins (25) died later in hospital. 230 people
were injured. Palestinian Yasser Shraydi (Chraidi) was suspected of
playing a lead role in the bombing of the La Belle discotheque. In
1996 he was extradited from Lebanon to face charges in Germany. In
1996 Andrea Hasler was arrested in Greece and extradited to Germany.
Also a woman named Verena Chanaa, suspected of planting the bomb,
and her former husband named Ali Chanaa were arrested in Berlin. In
1997 Musbah Abulghasen Eter was arrested by Italian police in Rome
in connection with the bombing. In 2001 V. Chanaa was sentenced to
14 years, A. Chanaa and Eter were sentenced to 12 years, and Chraidi
was sentenced to 14 years. Libya was implicated and in 2004 agreed
to pay $35 million in compensation.
(SFC, 5/234/96, p.A14)(SFC, 10/12/96, p.A12)(WSJ,
8/28/97, p.A1)(SFC, 8/28/97, p.C3)(SFC, 11/14/01, p.A18)(AP, 9/3/04)
1986 Apr 5, Manly Wade Wellman
(b.1903), sci-fi author (Devil's Planet), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manly_Wade_Wellman)

1988 Apr 5 Gov. Michael S.
Dukakis won a solid victory in Wisconsin's Democratic presidential
primary while, on the Republican side, Vice President George Bush
overwhelmed his opposition.
(AP, 5/5/97)
1988 Apr 5, Honduran and US
authorities captured Juan Ramon Matta-Ballesteros (b.1945). He was
taken from Honduras by US marshals, triggering violent protests, the
burning of a US Embassy office and the deaths of five people. In
2011 a court issued warrants for the arrest of 11 former officials
accused of helping US authorities seize the drug trafficker.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Matta-Ballesteros)(AP, 8/10/11)
1988 Apr 5 A 15-day hijacking
ordeal began as gunmen forced a Kuwait Airways jumbo jet to land in
Iran.
(AP, 5/5/97)
1988 Apr 5, Alf Kjellin,
Swedish actor, director (Juggler), died.
(www.tv.com/alf-kjellin/person/24487/summary.html)

1989 Apr 5, Joseph Hazelwood,
former captain of the Exxon Valdez supertanker that leaked nearly 11
million gallons of oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound,
surrendered to authorities in New York.
(AP, 4/5/99)
1989 Apr 5, The government of
Poland signed an agreement restoring the independent labor movement
Solidarity after a seven-year ban.
(AP, 4/5/99)

1990 Apr 5, It was announced
that President Bush and Soviet President Gorbachev would hold their
first full-scale summit in the United States.
(AP, 4/5/00)
1990 Apr 5, Paul Newman won a
court victory over Julius Gold to keep giving all profits from
Newman foods to charity.
(http://openweb.tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/1990-4/1990-04-05-CBS-15.html)

1991 Apr 5, The US government
reported the nation’s jobless rate surged to six-point-eight percent
in March.
(AP, 4/5/01)
1991 Apr 5, The space shuttle
“Atlantis" blasted off on a mission that included the deploying of
the second of “NASA’s" Great Observatories. NASA launched the $670
million Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. It was directed to a suicide
plunge in 2000.
(SFC, 3/24/00, p.A5)(SFC, 6/3/00, p.A6)(AP,
4/5/01)
1991 Apr 5, Former Texas
Senator John Tower, his daughter and 21 other people were killed in
a commuter plane crash near Brunswick, Georgia.
(AP, 4/5/01)
1991 Apr 5, The UN adopted
Resolution 688, which condemned Sadam Hussein’s suppression of the
Kurds and demanded respect and political rights for all citizens. A
safe haven was established above Iraq’s 36th parallel.
(www.fas.org/news/un/iraq/sres/sres0688.htm)(SFC,
9/4/96, p.A7)

1992 Apr 5, In Washington,
D.C., a crowd estimated by authorities at half a million marched in
support of abortion rights.
(AP, 4/5/97)
1992 Apr 5, Wal-Mart founder
Sam Walton died in Little Rock, Ark., at age 74.
(AP, 4/5/97)
1992 Apr 5, A medical student
(Suada Dilberovic) became the first fatality of war in
Bosnia-Herzegovina as Serb nationalists began forcibly opposing the
republic's secession from Yugoslavia.
(AP, 4/5/97)
1992 Apr 5, Pres. Fujimori
seized dictatorial power by sending tanks to shut down Peru's
Congress and judiciary. Former president Alan Garcia fled Peru to
avoid arrest by the Fujimori regime. In 2008 Peru's Cabinet chief
testified at the trial of former President Alberto Fujimori that
security forces attempted to assassinate Garcia following the shut
down of Congress.
(SFC, 1/19/01, p.D4)(AP, 1/18/08)

1993 Apr 5 North Carolina
defeated Michigan 77-71 to win its first NCAA basketball
championship in 11 years.
(AP, 5/5/97)
1993 Apr 5 The European
Community called for more and tighter sanctions on Serbia to try to
force Belgrade's allies in Bosnia to accept a peace plan.
(AP, 5/5/97)

1994 Apr 5, "Jackie Mason
Politically Incorrect" opened at the John Golden Theater in NYC for
347 performances.
(www.theatredb.com/QShow.php?sid=s0495)
1994 Apr 5, President Clinton
presided over a 90-minute town hall meeting in Charlotte, N.C., in
which he called himself the victim of "false charges" in connection
with the Whitewater controversy.
(AP, 4/5/99)
1994 Apr 5, Kurt Cobain
(b.1967), singer-musician for the grunge band Nirvana, committed
suicide in Seattle. [see Apr 8]
(NW, 10/28/02,
p.68)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_)
1994 Apr 5, Andre Victor
Tchelistcheff (b.1901), Russian-born winemaker, died in California.
He developed frost-prevention techniques and helped curb vine
disease in Napa Valley. Besides managing Beaulieu Vineyards in Napa
for 35 years, Tchelistcheff operated a private wine laboratory in
St. Helena for 15 years. He also assembled a fabled library of wine
literature.
(http://tinyurl.com/8kqmd)

1995 Apr 5, The House of
Representatives passed, 246-188, a tax-cut bill, the final major
item in the Republicans' "Contract with America."
(AP, 4/5/00)
1995 Apr 5, The Mekong
Agreement created the Mekong River Commission with Cambodia, Laos,
Thailand and Vietnam as members.
(Econ, 1/7/12,
p.34)(www.kellnielsen.dk/mekong/agreem.htm)

1996 Apr 5, Accompanied by six
children who survived the Oklahoma City bombing, President Clinton
bowed his head in silent prayer at the site where 168 people were
killed almost a year earlier.
(AP, 4/5/01)
1996 Apr 5, Francis Wood,
administrator of the China dept. of the British Library questioned
the authenticity of Marco Polo’s travels in a study titled: “Did
Marco Polo Go to China?"
(SFC, 4/6/96, p.D-2)
1996 Apr 5, Heavy fighting in
Mogadishu, Somalia left 75 people dead, after peace talks broke down
between clan leaders Mohamed Farak Aidid and his former backer,
Osman Hassan Ali Ato.
(SFC, 4/6/96, p.D-2)

1997 Apr 5 Allen Ginsberg
(b.1926), the counterculture guru who shattered conventions as poet
laureate of the Beat Generation, died in New York City at age 70.
His last book of poems "Death and Fame: Last Poems 1993-1997" was
edited by Bob Rosenthal, Peter Hale and Bill Morgan following his
death. In 2000 Bill Morgan edited "Deliberate Prose: Selected Essays
1952-1995." In 2001 David Carter edited "Allen Ginsberg: Spontaneous
Mind, The Selected Interviews, 1958-1996." In 2006 Bill Morgan
authored “I Celebrate Myself: The Somewhat Private Life of Allen
Ginsberg."
(SFEC, 4/6/97, p.A11)(AP, 5/5/97)(WSJ, 4/2/99,
p.W6)(SFEC, 5/9/99, BR p.3)(SFEC, 3/5/00, DB p.4)(SSFC, 4/8/01, BR
p.2)(SSFC, 11/5/06, p.M1)
1997 Apr 5, Regional police
reported the arrest of 7 men in Novosibirsk, Russia, who officials
said planned to smuggle 11 pounds (5.2kg) of enriched uranium to
Pakistan or China. The uranium was reportedly stolen from a plant in
the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan.
(AP, 11/29/07)(http://tinyurl.com/3cydhn)
1997 Apr 5, From Serbia it was
reported the Pres. Milosevic might step down from Serbian presidency
at the end of his 2 terms and try to assume the ceremonial post of
president of all of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro).
(SFC, 4/5/97, p.A8)
1997 Apr 5, In Zaire the rebels
agreed to allow a UN airlift of some 80,000 Rwandan refugees back to
their homeland.
(SFEC, 4/6/97, p.A17)

1998 Apr 5, In Leeds, England,
environment chiefs from the world's top eight industrialized nations
announced plans to curb the smuggling of hazardous waste, endangered
species and substances that damage the ozone layer.
(AP, 4/5/99)
1998 Apr 5, In Indonesia an
outbreak of dengue fever killed 125 people since the beginning of
the year in South Sumatra.
(SFEC, 4/5/98, p.T13)
1998 Apr 5, Iran and Iraq
exchanged 1,589 prisoners of war, bringing the number to over 4,000.
Up to 30,000 prisoners were thought to be held by both sides.
(SFC, 4/6/98, p.A16)
1998 Apr 5, In Japan the $3.8
billion, 12,906 foot Akashi Kaikyo Bridge linking the islands of
Shikoku and Honshu was opened. It was built to withstand an 8.5
earthquake and took ten years to build.
(SFEC, 4/6/98, p.A13)
1998 Apr 5 South Korea accepted
to reopen talks with North Korea on economic aid and other issues.
North Korea proposed yesterday that officials at the deputy minister
level meet in Beijing for talks.
(SFEC, 4/6/98, p.A12)

1999 Apr 5, The US Supreme
Court ruled that police can search the belongings of car passengers
while seeking evidence against the driver.
(WSJ, 4/6/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 5, In Laramie, Wyo.,
Russell Henderson pleaded guilty to kidnapping and felony murder in
the death of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student.
(AP, 4/5/00)
1999 Apr 5, At Newport News,
Va., members of local 8888 of the United Steelworkers went on
strike. The shipyard offered a $2.49 per hour raise over 3 years as
opposed to the union demand for $3.95.
(SFC, 4/6/99, p.D1)
1999 Apr 5, In Kansas City,
Mo., 5 decomposing bodies were found in the home of Gary Beach (56)
and his stepson. Beach was arrested the next day. The 5 dead
included his stepson and were thought to have been dead from 2-7
days.
(SFC, 4/6/99, p.A3)(SFC, 4/7/99, p.A2)
1999 Apr 5, NATO attacks struck
Belgrade, Nis and Novi Sad in the most ferocious attacks for a 13th
straight day. The first Kosovo refugees were flown out to Norway and
Turkey and the US said it would take some 20,000 to Guantanamo Ari
Base in Cuba. Pres. Clinton asked for public donations for the
relief effort.
(SFC, 4/6/99, p.A1,8)(AP, 4/5/00)
1999 Apr 5, In Indonesia 2
people were killed during clashes in Liquisa, East Timor. Jose
Alexandre Gusmao, under house arrest in Jakarta, called for
guerrilla attacks against Indonesian forces. In Maluku province
soldiers found some 20 burned bodies in the village of Larat on Kai
Besar Island.
(SFC, 4/6/99, p.A10)
1999 Apr 5, In Macedonia ethnic
Albanians were blocked at the border due to extremely slow
processing by government officials. Political stability was feared
and the UN was denied a mandate to process the refugees.
(SFC, 4/6/99, p.A8)
1999 Apr 5, Iraq claimed that
US and British warplanes bombed a control station that delivered oil
approved for export on a UN humanitarian program.
(SFC, 4/7/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 5, Libya handed over
to UN officials 2 men accused in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight
103. They were then flown to the Hague to be tried under Scottish
law. UN Sec. Gen'l. Kofi Annan immediately suspended economic
sanctions on Libya.
(SFC, 4/6/99, p.A1)(SFC, 4/6/99, p.A1)(WSJ,
4/6/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 5, Serbia said a dozen
civilians were killed by NATO bombs at Aleksinac.
(WSJ, 4/7/99, p.A1)
1999 Apr 5, In Turkey a suicide
bomber killed himself and a teenage girl in an apparent attempt on
the life of Gov. Suleyman Kamci.
(SFC, 4/6/99, p.A10)

2000 Apr 5, Ending a two-year
investigation, a US independent counsel cleared Labor Secretary
Alexis Herman of allegations that she’d solicited $250,000 in
illegal campaign contributions.
(AP, 4/5/01)
2000 Apr 5, A 261-page report
by the 12-person National Research Council said “it was not aware of
any evidence suggesting foods on the market today are unsafe to eat
as a result of genetic modification."
(SFC, 4/6/00, p.A3)
2000 Apr 5, The Netscape 6
browser was introduced.
(WSJ, 4/5/00, p.B1)
2000 Apr 5, The WHO and UNAIDS
recommended that the drug trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (or
cotrimoxazole) be used to fight AIDS in Africa. The antibiotic, also
known as Bactrim, would help victims live longer.
(SFC, 4/6/00, p.A10)
2000 Apr 5, In Brazil Jose
Rainha Jr., leader of the Landless Rural Workers Movement, was
acquitted of the 1989 killing of farm owner Jose Machado Neto.
(SFC, 4/6/00, p.A12)
2000 Apr 5, Yoshiro Mori took
over as Japan’s new prime minister, succeeding Keizo Obuchi, who’d
been felled by a stroke.
(AP, 4/5/01)
2000 Apr 5, In Mexico Rodolfo
Montiel, an imprisoned peasant leader, was awarded the $125,000
Goldman Environmental Prize for his efforts to protect the forests
of the Sierra Madre. 6 other winners were scheduled for Apr 17.
(SFC, 4/6/00, p.A16)
2000 Apr 5, In Pakistan Nawaz
Sharif was sentenced to life in prison for hijacking and terrorism
due to his Oct 12 refusal to let a passenger plane land with 198
people aboard.
(SFC, 4/6/00, p.A12)
2000 Apr 5, In Peru Alejandro
Toledo (54), the “Cholo," rose dramatically in the polls as
opposition candidate to Pres. Alberto Fujimori, the “Chino." Toledo
represented the Peru Possible Party.
(SFC, 4/6/00, p.A12)
2000 Apr 5, In Russia the FSB
arrested a US businessman for suspected espionage after he allegedly
bought information on defense technology from Russian scientists.
Edmond Pope was later identified as a retired navy captain working
for Pennsylvania State Univ. in applied research. The key witness
against Pope recanted his testimony in Nov.
(SFC, 4/6/00, p.A12)(USAT, 4/7/00, p.6A)(SFC,
11/11/00, p.A14)

2001 Apr 5, Wang Zhizhi of
China, 7 feet and 1 inch tall, made his NBA debut for the Dallas
Mavericks. Wang Zhizhi became the first Chinese player to play in
the NBA when he took the court for Dallas against Atlanta. He scored
six points and grabbed three rebounds as the Mavericks beat the
Hawks 108-to-94.
(SSFC, 4/15/01, p.A17)(AP, 4/5/02)
2001 Apr 5, The United States
and China intensified negotiations for the release of an American
spy plane's crew; President Bush, in a conciliatory gesture,
expressed regret over the plane's Apr 1 in-flight collision with a
Chinese fighter that triggered the tense standoff.
(SFC, 4/6/01, p.A1)(AP, 4/5/02)
2001 Apr 5, The DJIA rose 402
to 9,918, its 2nd largest point gain ever. The Nasdaq rose 146 to
1,785, its 3rd biggest % increase.
(SFC, 4/6/01, p.A1)
2001 April 5, Michelle Curran
(16) was reported missing in Las Vegas. She was kidnapped as she
hitchhiked, sexually abused for three weeks, and then shot in the
head. In 2006 Michael Thorton (50) and Janeen Snyder (26) were both
found guilty of murder, rape with a foreign object, and burglary.
The pair were sentenced to death.
(http://tinyurl.com/fww93)(SFC, 9/9/06, p.B2)
2001 cApr 5, Presidents Robert
Kocharian of Armenia and Heydar Aliyev of Azerbaijan met in Key
West, Fla., for negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh. A new $2.7 billion
oil pipeline from Baku to Ceyhan, Turkey, was expected to pass just
north of the area. Halliburton Co., was a finalist in engineering
bids for the line and Vice President Chaney was the former chief
executive of Halliburton. National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice
formerly served on the Board of Directors for Chevron, a player in
the pipeline bid.
(SFC, 4/4/01, p.A10)
2001 Apr 5, Dutch driver Perry
Wacker was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 14 years in
prison in the deaths of 58 Chinese immigrants who suffocated in his
truck in Dover, England.
(AP, 4/5/02)
2001 Apr 5, Iyad Hardan, head
of Sarai al-Quds, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad, was killed
in the explosion of a booby trapped pay phone in the West Bank.
(SFC, 4/6/01, p.A16)
2001 Apr 5, In Mexico Brig.
Gen. Ricardo Martinez was arrested with aides Capt. Pedro Maya and
Lt. Javier Quevedo on drug trafficking charges.
(SFC, 4/7/01, p.A14)
2001 Apr 5, In the Philippines
former Pres. Estrada was indicted for allegedly pocketing $82
million in kickbacks and payoffs over his 2 ½ years in office.
(SFC, 4/6/01, p.D6)

2002 Apr 5, US mediator Anthony
Zinni met with Yasser Arafat in Ramallah as Israeli forces continued
their offensive. At least 35 Palestinians were killed on the
bloodiest day of fighting since the beginning of Israel's week-old
military offensive.
(SFC, 4/6/02, p.A1)(AP, 4/5/03)
2002 Apr 5, A new US stamp that
featured the SF Bay Area was 1st displayed. It was part of the new
50-state “Greetings from America" series.
(SFC, 4/6/02, p.A14)
2002 Apr 5, The coffin of the
Queen Mother was carried through the heart of London on a gun
carriage as Britain honored the woman whose life spanned a
tumultuous century of upheaval and change.
(AP, 4/5/03)
2002 Apr 5, Iran’s Ayatollah
Khamenei urged Islamic oil-producing countries to suspend oil
exports for a month to countries supporting Israel.
(SFC, 4/6/02, p.A10)

2003 Apr 5, In the 18th day of
Operation Iraqi Freedom US 3rd Infantry troops entered Baghdad for
the first time. Coalition troops took several objectives surrounding
the capital in the north and northwest. US warplanes hit Iraqi
positions near the commercial center of Mosul. Up to 3,000 Iraqi
fighters were killed as American armored vehicles moved into
Baghdad.
(AP, 4/5/03)(AP, 4/6/03)(SSFC, 4/6/03, p.A1)
2003 Apr 5, Ali Hassan al-Majid
(king of spades), Saddam Hussein’s 1st cousin and dubbed "Chemical
Ali" by opponents for ordering a 1988 poison gas attack that killed
thousands of Kurds, was killed by an airstrike on his house in
Basra.
(AP, 4/7/03)(SFC, 4/26/03, A14)
2003 Apr 5, The Belgian Senate
approved a measure gutting a 1993 war crimes law.
(AP, 4/6/03)
2003 Apr 5, Croatian police
have arrested Ivica Rajic (45), a Bosnian Croat long sought by the
UN war crimes tribunal, for allegedly carrying out atrocities
against Muslim civilians during the Bosnian war.
(AP, 4/6/03)
2003 Apr 5, In East Timor Jose
Cardosa Fereira, senior militia leader, was found guilty of murder,
rape and torture of civilians in East Timor who supported the
territory's 1999 independence from Indonesia. He was sentenced to 12
years.
(AP, 4/5/03)
2003 Apr 5, A prison riot in
northern Honduras left 86 prisoners dead and dozens more injured at
the 1,600-inmate El Porvenir prison outside of La Ceiba. Soldiers
and police searched for escaped inmates. Honduras' 26 prisons were
built to house 5,500 inmates but are crammed with 13,000 prisoners.
In 2008 a court sentenced 22 soldiers and police to a combined 740
years in prison for the massacre. In 2008 a Honduran court sentenced
Dimas Antonio Benitez, a former prison official, to 1,051 years in
jail for the deaths in the prison massacre.
(AP, 4/6/03)(SFC, 4/7/03, p.A8)(AP, 6/4/08)(AP,
9/7/08)(AP, 2/16/12)
2003 Apr 5, In Israel Brian
Avery (23), a peace activist from Albuquerque, NM, was wounded when
Israeli troops opened fire in Jenin.
(SSFC, 4/6/03, p.A8)
2003 Apr 5, In the southern
Philippines two bombings killed two people and wounded eight.
(AP, 4/5/03)
2003 Apr 5, Uganda Army troops
killed at least 30 LRA rebels in the northern Pader and Gulu
districts, days after a three-week cease-fire expired.
(AP, 4/8/03)

2004 Apr 5, Univ. of
Connecticut won the basketball NCAA finals over Georgia Tech 82-73.
(WSJ, 4/6/04, p.A1)
2004 Apr 5, Pulitzer Prize
winners were announced. Edward P. Jones won the fiction award for
"The Known World." Steven Hahn won the history award for "A Nation
Under Our Feet" Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from
Slavery to the Great Migration." Anne Applebaum won the general
non-fiction award for "Gulag: A History."
(SFC, 4/6/04, p.A2)
2004 Apr 5, A US-Canadian task
force investigating the massive power blackout of Aug 14, 2003,
called for urgent approval of mandatory reliability rules to govern
the electric transmission industry.
(AP, 4/5/05)
2004 Apr 5, Leonard Reed
(b.1907), tap dancer extraordinary, died.
(Econ, 4/17/04, p.84)
2004 Apr 5, Rebel attacks
across Chechnya killed six Russian soldiers.
(AP, 4/6/04)
2004 Apr 5, China promised $122
million to Pres. Skerritt in return for revoking Dominica’s
recognition of Taiwan.
(Econ, 4/10/04, p.29)
2004 Apr 5, Six ethnic Croats
surrendered to the U.N. war crimes tribunal to face allegations they
participated in the torture and massacre of Muslims in Bosnia in
1993.
(AP, 4/5/04)
2004 Apr 5, The governing
coalition of Curacao, a Dutch Caribbean territory, collapsed over
allegations that the justice minister gave favors to a political
donor convicted of corruption.
(AP, 4/6/04)
2004 Apr 5, Indonesians voted
in legislative elections with Golkar, the party that once supported
ex-dictator Suharto, expected to win the most seats. Some 140,000
Indonesians chose between 450,000 candidates competing for 15,276
offices.
(AP, 4/5/04)(WSJ, 4/6/04, p.A1)(Econ, 4/10/04,
p.31)
2004 Apr 5, In northeastern
Iran an oil tanker truck and a passenger bus collided, killing 30
people and injuring 27.
(AP, 4/5/04)
2004 Apr 5, Paul Bremer, the
top U.S. administrator in Iraq, declared a radical Shiite cleric an
"outlaw" after his supporters rioted in Baghdad and four other
cities in fighting that killed at least 52 Iraqis, eight U.S. troops
and a Salvadoran soldier. A warrant was issued for al-Sadr related
to the murder of a rival Shiite leader in 2003.
(AP, 4/5/04)(WSJ, 4/6/04, p.A1)
2004 Apr 5, Israeli troops
killed 3 Palestinians near a Gaza settlement.
(WSJ, 4/6/04, p.A1)
2004 Apr 5, Alexander Lerner
(90), an eminent cyberneticist and a leading member of the
"refusenik" movement that promoted Jewish emigration from the former
Soviet Union, died in Israel.
(AP, 7/6/04)
2004 Apr 5, A flash flood swept
through two border communities in northern Mexico, flooding rivers,
washing away houses and killing 15 people. Dozens more were reported
missing.
(AP, 4/5/04)
2004 Apr 5, Pakistan gave
tribesmen 2 weeks to expel foreign terrorists.
(SFC, 4/6/04, p.A3)
2004 Apr 5, In Sri Lanka Pres.
Kumaratunga appointed Mahinda Rajapakse as PM.
(SFC, 4/6/04, p.A2)

2005 Apr 5, The US State Dept.
toughened passport rules and announced that Americans returning from
Canada, Mexico and elsewhere would be required to show their
passports in a program to be fully phased in by Dec 31, 2007.
(WSJ, 4/6/05, p.D1)
2005 Apr 5, Zalmay Khalilzad, a
former White House official who has served as US ambassador in his
native Afghanistan, was named to take over the post in Iraq.
(AP, 4/6/05)
2005 Apr 5, Crude futures
prices fell as traders took profits from a recent run-up. The EU cut
its economic growth forecast and OPEC began discussions on another
output increase.
(AP, 4/5/05)
2005 Apr 5, Peter Jennings
(b.1938), Canada-born ABC News anchorman revealed, he had lung
cancer. He died in August 2005.
(AP,
4/5/06)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Jennings)
2005 Apr 5, Saul Bellow (89),
Nobel winning novelist, died in Brookline, Mass. His books included
“The Dangling Man" (1944), “Herzog" (1964), and “Ravelstein" (2000).
In 2015 Zachary Leader authored “The Life of Saul Bellow: To Fame
and Fortune, 1915-1964."
(SFC, 4/6/05, p.A1)(Econ, 4/16/05, p.76)(SSFC,
5/10/15, p.N1)
2005 Apr 5, Dale Messick
(b.1906), creator of the Brenda Starr cartoon series, died. The
strip began in 1940 in Long Island.
(SFC, 4/8/05, p.B7)
2005 Apr 5, The IMF warned that
the growing market for credit derivatives and other complex
securities could suffer a rapid selloff if conditions turned
negative.
(WSJ, 4/6/05, p.A6)
2005 Apr 5, In Brazil
authorities charged eight policemen with murder for the Mar 31
death-squad killings that left 30 people dead on the outskirts of
Rio.
(AP, 4/6/05)
2005 Apr 5, Amnesty
International said China accounted for the majority of executions
reported worldwide last year, but the true frequency of the death
penalty is impossible to count because many death sentences are
carried out secretly.
(AP, 4/5/05)
2005 Apr 5, China's top
industrial safety official said the number of deaths in China's
accident-plagued coal mines surged by nearly 21% to 1,113 in the
first three months of this year despite a national safety crackdown.
(AP, 4/5/05)(WSJ, 4/6/05, p.A1)
2005 Apr 5, In Baghdad's
southern Dora neighborhood, an abandoned taxi exploded on an
expressway near a U.S. patrol, killing a US soldier and wounding
four others. A US Marine was killed by an explosion in the
sprawling, western province of Anbar.
(AP, 4/5/05)
2005 Apr 5, Rebels opposed to a
bus link joining parts of Kashmir controlled by rivals India and
Pakistan set off bombs and fought gun battles with troops, two days
before the service was due to start.
(AP, 4/5/05)
2005 Apr 5, Guadalupe Garcia
Escamilla (39), radio reporter, was wounded in the chest, abdomen,
legs and arms during an attack in the Mexican border city of Nuevo
Laredo, across from Laredo, Texas. She died from her wounds April
16.
(AP, 4/17/05)
2005 Apr 5, Saudi police killed
2 more militants, bringing the total to 9, as security forces
continued a tense standoff in ar-Rass. Among those killed were
Moroccan Kareem Altohami al-Mojati and Saudi Saud Homood Obaid
al-Otaibi, who were ranked 4 and 7 respectively on Saudi Arabia's
list of 26 most wanted al-Qaida-linked terror suspects.
(AP, 4/5/05)(SFC, 4/5/05, p.A3)
2005 Apr 5, Tens of thousands
of Sudanese marched through the capital Khartoum against a UN
resolution referring war crime suspects to the International
Criminal Court.
(AP, 4/5/05)
2005 Apr 5, The UN handed
prosecutors from the International Criminal Court thousands of
documents and a list of 51 people to be investigated for alleged war
crimes in Sudan's conflict-wracked Darfur region.
(AP, 4/6/05)(Econ, 4/9/05, p.38)

2006 Apr 5, Seattle customs
authorities arrested 18 men and 4 women who had arrived from China
in a 40-foot cargo container.
(SFC, 4/6/06, p.A3)
2006 Apr 5, Katie Couric
announced she was leaving NBC's "Today" show to become anchor of
"The CBS Evening News."
(AP, 4/5/07)
2006 Apr 5, Mike Pressler, the
lacrosse coach of Duke Univ., resigned amid allegations that 3
players had raped a stripper at an off-campus party in March. Duke
cancelled the lacrosse season. The rape charges were later dropped,
but the players still faced allegations of sexual offense and
kidnapping; all maintained their innocence.
(SFC, 4/6/06, p.A2)(AP, 4/5/07)
2006 Apr 5, Apple Corp.
introduced free software to allow users of its latest Mac models to
run MS Windows.
(Reuters, 4/5/06)(WSJ, 4/6/06, p.B1)
2006 Apr 5, SF picked Google
and EarthLink to bring free Internet access to the city.
(SFC, 4/6/06, p.A1)
2006 Apr 5, Mike Pressler, the
lacrosse coach of Duke Univ., resigned amid allegations that 3
players rape a stripper at an off-campus party in March. Duke
cancelled the lacrosse season.
(SFC, 4/6/06, p.A2)
2006 Apr 5, Brown-Forman said
it will lay off 76 people and close its Fetzer Vineyards’ Valley
Oaks Hospitality Center in Hopland. Brown-Forman acquired Fetzer in
1992.
(SFC, 4/6/06, p.F2)
2006 Apr 5, Allan Kaprow
(b.1927), an artist who coined the term “happenings" in the late
1950s, died at his home in Encinitas, Ca. In 1966 he published
“Assemblage, Environments, and Happenings."
(SFC, 4/11/06, p.B5)(WSJ, 4/27/06, p.D7)
2006 Apr 5, Gene Pitney
(b.1941), US singer and songwriter and pop music star of the 1960s,
died during a tour of Britain. His chart-topping hits included “Town
Without Pity" (1961) "Twenty-Four Hours From Tulsa" and "Something's
Gotten Hold Of My Heart."
(AP, 4/5/06)(SFC, 4/6/06, p.B7)(Econ, 4/15/06,
p.86)
2006 Apr 5, In Afghanistan
coalition forces killed an insurgent and dropped 2,000-pound bombs
on a band of Taliban.
(AP, 4/6/06)
2006 Apr 5, A Brazilian
congressional investigative committee gave its final approval to a
report recommending prosecution of over 100 people linked to a
campaign finance and corruption scheme run by former members of the
governing Workers Party.
(AP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 5, Britain reiterated
its sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and rejected Argentina's
claims in a letter to Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
(AP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 5, Britain’s Serious
Fraud Office began criminal proceedings against nine individuals and
five companies it alleges fixed the price of two widely prescribed
generic drugs sold to the country's free National Health Service
(NHS).
(AFP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 5, Home Secretary
Charles Clarke said London would press for Romania to be granted
membership of the European Union "as soon as possible" as he praised
the country's work against people trafficking.
(AFP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 5, Cuban coast guard
officials fatally shot a suspected migrant smuggler and arrested two
others after confronting them in an apparent operation to ferry 39
migrants out of the country on a US-registered speedboat. State
television later said that the migrant smuggler who was fatally shot
had left the island as a migrant himself three weeks earlier, but
returned as a crew member on the same boat to repay a debt.
(AP, 4/7/06)(AP, 4/8/06)
2006 Apr 5, In France
demonstrators blocked roads, rail lines and mail delivery trucks in
a second straight day of protests to demand the repeal of a divisive
jobs law, while unions vowed they would not compromise in talks with
President Jacques Chirac's ruling party on the issue.
(AP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 5, In Indonesia an
explosion in the headquarters of the paramilitary police command in
the western city of Medan killed two officers and injured several
others.
(AP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 5, A video posted on
the Internet in the name of an extremist group claimed to show Iraqi
insurgents dragging the burning body of a US pilot on the ground
after the April 1 crash of an Apache helicopter.
(AP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 5, In Iraq a Sunni
professor was found dead hours after he was abducted in the southern
city of Basra.
(AP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 5, In Nepal police
detained dozens of opposition politicians and ordered a night curfew
to thwart a planned general strike aiming to pressure King Gyanendra
to restore democracy.
(AP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 5, Pakistani security
forces and suspected Islamic militants battled for a second day near
the Afghan border, leaving four soldiers and 16 fighters dead.
(AP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 5, PM Ismail Haniyeh
said the new Hamas-led government is broke and missed the April 1
monthly pay date for tens of thousands of Palestinian public
workers.
(AP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 5, In the Solomon
Islands former premier Sir Allan Kemakeza narrowly clung to his seat
in parliamentary elections.
(AP, 4/18/06)
2006 Apr 5, Militants who
captured the South Korean fishing vessel off the coast of Somalia
denied they were pirates and said they were defending their waters
from illegal fishing.
(AP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 5, Sudan said it would
allow UN Undersecretary Jan Egeland to visit Darfur.
(AP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 5, Thailand’s PM
Thaksin Shinawatra handed over power to a longtime friend and fellow
police officer, less than 24 hours after saying he would step down
over allegations of corruption and abuse of power.
(AP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 5, Actor Michael
Douglas presented UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan with an award for
his dedication to ridding the world of land mines, marking the first
international day to honor the cause.
(AP, 4/5/06)
2006 Apr 5, In Venezuela Jorge
Aguirre, a photographer for the Caracas daily El Mundo, was shot and
killed on the way to an anti-crime protest. He managed to take a
picture of his assailant fleeing on a motorcycle. Homicide charges
were filed on April 15 against Boris Lenis Blanco (33), a police
officer, who was arrested April 13.
(AP, 4/16/06)

2007 Apr 5, The US pressed
Ethiopia for details on detainees from 19 nations taken to secret
prisons there and interrogated by CIA and FBI agents.
(WSJ, 4/6/07, p.A1)
2007 Apr 5, The US
Transportation Dept. said it will require all passenger vehicles to
have electronic gear to prevent deadly rollovers by 2012.
(WSJ, 4/6/07, p.A1)
2007 Apr 5, Florida’s Gov.
Charlie Crist persuaded 2 of 3 members of the state board of
executive clemency that most felons had served their time and should
automatically recover the right to vote.
(Econ, 4/14/07, p.35)
2007 Apr 5, FBI Special Agent
Barry Lee Bush was accidentally shot and killed by a fellow agent as
a stakeout team closed in on three suspected bank robbers in
Readington, N.J.
(AP, 4/5/08)
2007 Apr 5, In San Mateo, Ca.,
Dr. William Ayres (75), a published child psychologist, was arrested
on 14 counts of child molestation, which dated back as far as 1969.
4 new charges were added on April 12. In 2013 Ayres was sentenced to
8 years in prison.
(SFC, 4/7/07, p.A1)(SFC, 4/13/07, p.B1)(SFC,
8/27/13, p.C1)
2007 Apr 5, Darryl Stingley
(55), a former New England Patriots player paralyzed during an
on-field collision in 1978, died in Chicago.
(AP, 4/5/08)
2007 Apr 5, Australian police
charged two men, including an army captain, with stealing military
rocket launchers, some of which ended up in the hands of a suspected
terrorist.
(AFP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 5, Fifteen British
sailors and marines held captive by Iran returned home to a nation
relieved at their freedom but also outraged that they were used by
Tehran's propaganda machine.
(AP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 5, Ramzan Kadyrov was
inaugurated as the new president of Chechnya on a blessing from the
Kremlin, which has relied on him to stabilize the region after more
than a decade of separatist fighting.
(AP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 5, China told banks to
increase their reserves for the third time this year, cutting the
amount of money available for lending in a new effort to cool an
investment boom that Beijing worries could lead to a financial
crisis. Chinese celebrated the annual tomb-sweeping festival, but
state media said soaring funeral costs were leading to people
complaining they can no longer afford to die.
(AP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 5, A bus carrying
passengers on the start of the Easter holiday crashed in northern
Colombia, igniting a blaze that killed 27 people, including six
children.
(AP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 5, A Greek cruise
ship, the Sea Diamond, sank off the Aegean Sea island of Santorini,
forcing the evacuation of nearly 1,600 people.
(AP, 4/5/08)(SSFC, 12/14/08, p.E3)
2007 Apr 5, The editor-in-chief
of Playboy Indonesia was acquitted of charges that he violated the
Muslim nation's indecency laws by publishing pictures of scantily
clothed women.
(AP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 5, A bomb struck an
oil pipeline, cutting off supplies and causing a huge fire in
southern Iraq near the border with Kuwait. A US Army helicopter went
down south of Baghdad, injuring 4 of the 9 soldiers aboard. A US
soldier was killed by small-arms fire while on patrol in eastern
Baghdad. 4 British soldiers and a Kuwaiti interpreter were killed in
an ambush in southern Iraq. Thaer Ahmed, assistant director of
Baghdad TV, was killed when a car bomb struck the television offices
in Jami'a, in west Baghdad. 12 people were wounded. Police in west
Baghdad found the bullet-riddled body of Khamael Muhsin, a famous
television presenter during Saddam Hussein's rule. She was kidnapped
two days ago. Gunmen killed 18 Iraqi, British and American soldiers
in the past 24 hours in attacks in Baghdad, the southern oil hub of
Basra and near the northern city of Mosul.
(AP, 4/5/07)(Reuters, 4/5/07)(AP, 4/6/07)
2007 Apr 5, Kosovo's parliament
overwhelmingly endorsed a UN plan that proposes internationally
supervised independence for the disputed province.
(AP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 5, In eastern Pakistan
a speeding tractor plowed into a roadside school, killing nine
children and injuring 18 others.
(AP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 5, A British diplomat
met with Palestinian PM Ismail Haniyeh to push for the release of a
kidnapped BBC journalist, the first direct meeting between a
European Union diplomat and a Hamas official of the Palestinians'
new coalition government.
(AP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 5, US House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi said that she raised the issue of Saudi Arabia's lack
of female politicians with Saudi government officials on the last
stop of her Mideast tour.
(AP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 5, Attackers fired a
grenade into a mosque in Thailand's restive south, wounding 16
Muslim worshippers in an act of defiance after authorities imposed a
strict curfew to contain escalating violence.
(AP, 4/5/07)
2007 Apr 5, A Ugandan court
scrapped the nation's adultery law, saying it was unconstitutional
and favored men.
(AP, 4/6/07)

2008 Apr 5, Skybus Airlines, a
low-cost carrier based in Columbus, Ohio, shut down and filed for
bankruptcy protection, becoming the latest of the nation's airlines
to fall because of rising fuel costs and a slowing economy.
(AP, 4/5/08)(SFC, 4/8/08, p.D3)
2008 Apr 5, Charlton Heston
(84), film star, died. he won the 1959 best actor Oscar as the
chariot-racing "Ben-Hur" and portrayed Moses, Michelangelo, El Cid
and other heroic figures in movie epics of the '50s and '60s.
(AP, 4/6/08)
2008 Apr 5, Afghan and NATO
forces killed 15 Taliban insurgents in separate raids in southern
Afghanistan, where police also captured Abdul Jabar, a senior
Taliban commander.
(AFP, 4/6/08)
2008 Apr 5, British PM Gordon
Brown called the current global economic crisis the largest
challenge of its kind in centuries while addressing some of the
world's key decision makers at a summit on climate change, the
economy and global poverty.
(AP, 4/5/08)
2008 Apr 5, London Heathrow
airport's new Terminal 5 was hit by fresh flights disruption when
the baggage system suffered a major software problem.
(AP, 4/5/08)
2008 Apr 5, In Croatia
President Bush celebrated NATO's expansion into former communist
territory and urged further enlargement, highlighting differences
with Moscow hours before final talks with outgoing Russian President
Vladimir Putin.
(AP, 4/5/08)
2008 Apr 5, Iran said it would
not make any concession in exchange for incentives offered by the
West to halt sensitive atomic activities.
(AP, 4/5/08)
2008 Apr 5, Youssef Adel, an
Assyrian Orthodox priest, was killed in a drive-by shooting in
Baghdad. Elsewhere in Baghdad, a bomb exploded on a minibus carrying
morning commuters on the busy Palestine Street, killing at least
four passengers and wounding 15.
(AP, 4/5/08)
2008 Apr 5, In Japan G8
development officials began a two-day ministerial meeting in Tokyo
on how to ease suffering in Africa and other impoverished states as
well as bolster their efforts in foreign development aid.
(AFP, 4/5/08)
2008 Apr 5, In Kashmir police
fired tear gas to break up a protest by stone-throwing demonstrators
against alleged prison abuses as a strike paralyzed life in
revolt-hit Srinagar.
(AFP, 4/5/08)
2008 Apr 5, Electoral officials
said Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF took 30 seats in elections for the
country's senate, or upper house of parliament, with the combined
opposition taking the same number. The president and tribal chiefs
are to appoint the remaining 93 seats. Opposition chief Morgan
Tsvangirai claimed outright victory in presidential elections and
warned Robert Mugabe's ruling party would resort to violence to
cling to power. 3 cattle ranchers were driven off their land, and
equipment and livestock were seized.
(Reuters, 4/5/08)(AFP, 4/5/08)(AP, 4/6/08)

2009 Apr 5, State media said
China has reopened Tibet to foreign tourists almost two months after
imposing a ban ahead of politically sensitive anniversaries.
(AP, 4/5/09)
2009 Apr 5, In the Czech Rep.
President Barack Obama set out his vision for ridding the world of
nuclear arms, declaring the US ready to lead steps by all states
with atomic weapons to reduce their arsenals. Obama said the US will
proceed with development of a missile defense system in Europe as
long as there is an Iranian threat of nuclear weapons. Obama also
urged the EU to accept Turkey as a full member of the 27-nation
bloc, in remarks rejected outright by France and met coolly by
Germany.
(AP, 4/5/09)
2009 Apr 5, In Denmark Lars
Lokke Rasmussen (b.1964) began serving as prime minister.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lars_L%C3%B8kke_Rasmussen)
2009 Apr 5, In Iraq Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas won assurances that Iraqi leaders will
protect Palestinians living in Iraq, including thousands stranded in
desert refugee camps, during his first visit to the country since
the US-led invasion of 2003. Two roadside bombs in Fallujah killed
one officer and wounded three other people. Someone threw a grenade
at a police patrol in Samarra, killing one policeman and wounding
four. 8 people, including seven policemen, were wounded by a bomb
that blasted their patrol in the northern oil city of Kirkuk.
(AP, 4/5/09)
2009 Apr 5, Macedonia’s
conservative candidate Gjorgje Ivanov (49) won the runoff election
in a landslide with about two-thirds of the popular vote.
(WSJ, 4/6/09, p.A8)
2009 Apr 5, In Moldova the
Communist Party won re-election under alleged ballot rigging. The
Communists, in power since 2001, won about 50% of the vote in what
international observers said was a fair election. With a population
of 4.1 million, Moldova was one of Europe's poorest nations with an
average monthly salary of $350. Last year Moldovans abroad sent home
$1.6 billion, roughly the same amount as the state budget.
(AP, 4/7/09)(Econ, 4/18/09, p.58)
2009 Apr 5, In southern Nigeria
gunmen killed a policeman as they kidnapped a Scottish oil-services
worker in Port Harcourt. The British worker was released on April
25.
(AP, 4/6/09)(AFP, 4/25/09)
2009 Apr 5, North Korea defied
international warnings and sent a rocket hurtling over the Pacific,
a launch President Barack Obama called an illicit test of the
regime's long-range missile technology that threatened the security
of nations "near and far." North Korea said it successfully sent its
"Kwangmyongsong-2" satellite into orbit as part of its peaceful bid
to develop its space program. South Korea and the US military
disputed North Korea's claim of a successful launch into space,
saying the rocket fell into the ocean in stages.
(AP, 4/5/09)
2009 Apr 5, In Pakistan a
suicide bombing at a crowded Shiite mosque in Chakwal city in Punjab
province killed 24-26 people. A senior Pakistani Taliban commander
promised two more attacks per week in the country if the US does not
stop missile strikes on Pakistani territory.
(AP, 4/5/09)(AP, 4/6/09)(Econ, 4/11/09, p.39)
2009 Apr 5, Rwanda's ambassador
said the bodies of nearly 11,000 Rwandan genocide victims that
floated more than 100 miles downriver and were placed in makeshift
graves in Uganda will receive proper reburial.
(AP, 4/5/09)
2009 Apr 5, In Somalia an
overnight mortar attack aimed at troops and peacekeepers in
Mogadishu killed a child and wounded six other people, including 4
of the dead child's siblings. Somali pirates hijacked a small Yemeni
boat in the Indian Ocean.
(AP, 4/5/09)(AP, 4/6/09)
2009 Apr 5, Sri Lanka’s
military said 3 days of intense fighting in the northeast has left
525 Tamil Tiger rebels dead and pushed the remaining guerrillas into
a small "no-fire" zone crowded with tens of thousands of civilians.
Woman rebel commanders Vidusha and Durga were reported to be among
those killed.
(AP, 4/5/09)(Econ, 4/11/09, p.38)
2009 Apr 5, Off the coast of
Yemen another smuggling boat carrying 23 Somalis hit rough seas. 13
made it to shore and two were missing.
(AP, 4/7/09)

2010 Apr 5, The Discovery space
shuttle launched with 7 astronauts, including 3 women, for a
rendezvous with the int’l. space station.
(SFC, 4/6/10, p.A6)
2010 Apr 5, In NYC 4 people
were shot and dozens of people were arrested in a mile-long stretch
of Manhattan near Times Square in mayhem following the city's annual
auto show.
(AP, 4/5/10)
2010 Apr 5, In West Virginia a
huge underground explosion blamed on methane gas killed 25 coal
miners at Massey Energy Co.'s sprawling Upper Big Branch mine, about
30 miles south of Charleston. It was the worst US mining disaster
since 1984. Four missing miners were found dead on April 10. In 2009
the US Mine Safety and health Administration (MHSA) had cited the
mine 515 times, often for problems with its ventilation and escape
route plans. On Feb 22, 2012, mine superintendent Gary May (43) was
charged with conspiracy to defraud the federal government. May
became the 2nd employee of Massey to face prosecution in the case.
(AP, 4/6/10)(AP, 4/10/10)(Econ, 4/10/10,
p.32)(SFC, 2/23/12, p.A9)
2010 Apr 5, In Afghanistan NATO
forces killed 10 militants in a raid on a compound in Nangarhar
province's Khogyani district. Gunmen seriously wounded an Afghan
provincial councilwoman in a drive-by shooting in Pul-e Khumri,
capital of northern Baghlan province. In Helmand province 4
insurgents and 4 civilians died in a NATO airstrike.
(AP, 4/5/10)(AP, 4/6/10)
2010 Apr 5, In northern Congo
UN-backed government forces retook the Mbandaka provincial airport
from rebels. In eastern Congo 2 soldiers shot and killed national
radio journalist Patient Chebeya Bakome. Bakome's brother said the
soldiers shot Bakome in front of his wife and took his phone and
money. Beni police arrested the 2 soldiers.
(AP, 4/5/10)(AP, 4/6/10)
2010 Apr 5, In Ethiopia a
British geologist (39) working on behalf of the state-run Malaysian
energy company Petronas was shot dead near Danot town.
(Reuters, 4/9/10)
2010 Apr 5, In Iraq a Shiite
couple and four of their children were gunned down in their home
outside Baghdad.
(AP, 4/6/10)
2010 Apr 5, In Mexico five men
were killed when gunmen opened fire on their car outside a shopping
mall in Mazatlan, in the northeastern state of Sinaloa.
(AP, 4/6/10)
2010 Apr 5, In Mongolia over
5,000 protesters surged through the center of Ulan Bator demanding
that the government of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party
and the Mongolian Democratic Party fulfill promises from the 2008
elections to crack down on graft and better distribute the country's
mining wealth.
(AP, 4/5/10)
2010 Apr 5, In Nigeria fresh
clashes erupted between groups of Christian and Muslim youths in the
central city of Jos, leaving one dead as security forces restored
order.
(AFP, 4/5/10)
2010 Apr 5, In Peru a 2nd day
of clashes between police and protesting miners left 6 miners dead
as the government tried to put restrictions on unregulated gold
mining in the southern jingle region of Madre de Dios.
(SFC, 4/6/10, p.A2)
2010 Apr 5, PM Vladimir Putin
said Russia may sell $5 billion worth of weapons to Venezuela
following his visit to the South American nation.
(AP, 4/5/10)
2010 Apr 5, In northwest
Pakistan Islamist militants attacked a US consulate in Peshawar with
car bombs and grenades, killing 8 people. 4 militants were killed
during the attack. Hours earlier 45 people died in a suicide attack
on a political rally in the town of Timergarah in Lower Dir.
(AP, 4/5/10)(AFP, 4/5/10)(AP, 4/6/10)
2010 Apr 5, In Russia’s
Ingushetia region a suicide bomber killed two policemen.
(Reuters, 4/5/10)
2010 Apr 5, In Thailand
thousands of defiant anti-government demonstrators fanned out to
other parts of Thailand's capital and threatened businesses with
ties to the government after ignoring police orders to leave
Bangkok's paralyzed commercial district.
(AP, 4/5/10)
2010 Apr 5, Turkish police
detained 19 officers, including four generals, as part of an
investigation into an alleged plot by elements of the fiercely
secular military seeking to topple the Islamic-rooted government.
(AP, 4/5/10)
2010 Apr 5, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Uzbekistan to fulfill its
international human rights commitments and take further steps toward
improving the repressive political climate in the Central Asian
nation.
(AP, 4/5/10)

2011 Apr 5, A US astronaut and
2 Russian cosmonauts blasted off for the Int’l. Space Station from
Russia’s cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
(SFC, 4/5/11, p.A2)
2011 Apr 5, In Tennessee crews
recovered the bodies of two workers from the rubble of a
wastewater-treatment plant wall that collapsed earlier in the day.
Officials continued to investigate what caused the breach that
released sewage into a rain-swollen river at Great Smoky Mountains
National Park.
(AP, 4/5/11)
2011 Apr 5, Baruch S. Blumberg
(b.1925), 1976 Nobel Prize winner in medicine or physiology, died.
He had discovered a virus that caused hepatitis and a vaccine to
pre-vent it.
(Econ, 4/30/11, p.92)
2011 Apr 5, In eastern
Afghanistan NATO forces killed seven insurgents who tried to storm
their way onto a base in Jalalabad.
(AP, 4/6/11)
2011 Apr 5, The UN weather
agency said a protective ozone layer in the Arctic that keeps out
the sun's most damaging rays, ultraviolet radiation, has thinned
about 40 percent this winter, a record drop.
(AP, 4/5/11)
2011 Apr 5, Bahraini
authorities deported two Iraqi journalists working for the
opposition's main newspaper. The government had accused Al Wasat
newspaper of unethical coverage of the Shiite uprising against the
Sunni rulers. At least 27 people have been killed, since the
protests began in Bahrain in mid-February.
(AP, 4/5/11)
2011 Apr 5, Two British tabloid
journalists were arrested on suspicion of illegally intercepting
voice-mail messages left on cell phones. Media reports identified
Neville Thurlbeck and Ian Edmondson of news of the World in the
ongoing phone-hacking scandal.
(SFC, 4/6/11, p.A3)
2011 Apr 5, China’s central
bank raised interest rates again.
(Econ, 4/9/11, p.84)
2011 Apr 5, Ecuador said it is
expelling US Ambassador Heather Hodges over a diplomatic cable
divulged by WikiLeaks that accused Jaime Hurtado Vaca, a newly
retired police chief, of a long history of corruption and speculates
that President Rafael Correa was aware of it.
(AP, 4/5/11)
2011 Apr 5, Ethiopia’s PM Meles
Zenawi told lawmakers Ethiopia is ready to help the people of
Eritrea topple the regime of Issaias Afeworki, ruling out a military
invasion.
(AFP, 4/5/11)
2011 Apr 5, Iraq's environment
ministry says the war-plagued country has an estimated 25 percent of
the world's unexploded land mines, making it one of the most
contaminated. Most of the land mines were left behind from the
1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, when Saddam Hussein's regime planted them in
the desert near the border. There are no existing maps to show where
they are located.
(AP, 4/5/11)
2011 Apr 5, Italy and Tunisia
signed a deal to choke off the flood of Tunisians heading to Italian
shores. Italy agreed to take two flights a day of repatriated
migrants.
(SFC, 4/6/11, p.A2)(Econ, 4/16/11, p.58)
2011 Apr 5, In Ivory Coast
strongman Laurent Gbagbo, surrounded by troops backing Alassane
Ouattara, huddled in a bunker at his home with his family and tried
to negotiate terms of surrender. Ouattara, the democratically
elected leader, has urged forces loyal to him to take Gbagbo alive.
(AP, 4/5/11)
2011 Apr 5, Tokyo Electric
Power Co (TEPCO), the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear
power plant, said it had reduced the flow of highly radioactive
water out of a reactor. The government set its first radiation
safety standards for fish after the nuclear plant reported
radioactive contamination in nearby seawater measuring at several
million times the legal limit.
(Reuters, 4/5/11)(AP, 4/5/11)
2011 Apr 5, In Lebanon several
hundred inmates demanding improved conditions at the country’s
largest prison took three guards hostage and set fire inside one of
the buildings. Police stormed the country's largest prison to halt a
dayslong riot by the inmates. Two prisoners died during the
operation.
(AP, 4/5/11)(AP, 4/6/11)
2011 Apr 5, Libya's government
said it is ready to negotiate reforms but only as long as Moamer
Kadhafi is not forced out. Government forces unleashed a bombardment
of the rebels outside the key oil town of Brega pushing them back,
even as the regime said Gadhafi might consider some reforms but
would not step down. The ICC's prosecutor said the International
Criminal Court has evidence Gaddafi's government planned to put down
protests by killing civilians before the uprising in Libya broke
out. A group of journalists came under attack by Gaddafi forces near
Brega. South African photographer Anton Hammerl was wounded in the
attack. Hammerl was initially reported to have been captured by
militia, together with Americans Clare Morgana Gillis and James
Foley, but it was later believed that he died from his wounds.
(AFP, 4/5/11)(AP, 4/5/11)(Reuters, 4/5/11)(AP,
5/19/11)
2011 Apr 5, The Pacific nation
of Niue has printed unusual commemorative stamps for Britain's royal
wedding: an image of Prince William and Kate Middleton with
perforations that split the couple down the middle.
(AP, 4/5/11)
2011 Apr 5, Palestinian
authorities said Mohammed Shalha (21) was killed by Israeli fire
along Gaza's volatile border. Relatives of Shalha said he was
collecting gravel along the border. The Israeli military said the
man was armed, and that soldiers opened fire after spotting him.
(AP, 4/5/11)
2011 Apr 5, The Philippines'
largest Muslim rebel group acknowledged that its ranks include child
soldiers and said its leaders would meet with United Nations
representatives for talks on how to wean the youths from war.
(AP, 4/5/11)
2011 Apr 5, In Poland the
restored synagogue at Zamosc, Renaissance gem looted by the Nazis,
was presented to the public in a ceremony attended by Jewish
leaders, US and Israeli diplomats and city officials. It will serve
occasionally as a house of worship for Jewish tourists who visit
death camps in the area.
(AP, 4/3/11)
2011 Apr 5, In Sudan an
unidentified plane flew in from the Red Sea and fired a missile at a
car travelling from the airport to Port Sudan, killing both
passengers and destroying the vehicle. The next day Foreign Minister
Ali Ahmad Karti accused Israel of carrying out the air strike.
(AFP, 4/6/11)
2011 Apr 5, In South Sudan 13
people died in tribal violence. The governor of Western Equatoria,
Joseph Bangasi Bakosoro, later said gunmen attacked his village
while authorities from the two states were meeting to find ways of
ending hostilities between the communities.
(AP, 4/7/11)
2011 Apr 5, The southern Syrian
town of Daraa, the center of pro-democracy protests, was hit by a
general strike and braced for fresh rallies after midday prayers.
(AFP, 4/5/11)
2011 Apr 5, In Yemen tribesmen
loyal to Pres. Saleh clashed with a group of soldiers whose
commander has sided with the opposition. Fighting in a suburb of
Sanaa left 3 tribesmen dead. In Taiz dozens of protesters were
treated from breathing problems after police fired tear gas as
thousands of demonstrators took to the streets for a 3rd consecutive
day. Security forces shot dead two protesters in the western city of
Hudaydah during demonstrations.
(AP, 4/5/11)(AFP, 4/5/11)

2012 Apr 5, Pres. Obama signed
the “Jumpstart Our Business Start-ups" aka Jobs Act. The Republican
crafted bill to loosen securities regulations was passed by Congress
on March 27.
(SFC, 4/6/12, p.A1)(Econ, 3/31/12, p.16)
2012 Apr 5, US President Barack
Obama dropped in on a meeting between Vice President Joe Biden and
Massud Barzani, the visiting leader of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish
region. Barzani, also met with US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
(AFP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 5, In NYC Russian arms
dealer Viktor Bout (45), dubbed the Merchant of Death, received the
mandatory minimum 25 years in prison in a case that demonstrated the
US government's determination to bring him to justice. The judge
also ordered a $15 million forfeiture.
(AFP, 4/6/12)
2012 Apr 5, The Montana
Attorney General’s office said Greg Mortenson, founder of the
Central Asia Institute and author of “Three Cups of Tea" (2006),
mismanaged the organization and misspent its money. He would remain
the face of the charity, but would have to repay $1 million.
(SFC, 4/6/12, p.A7)
2012 Apr 5, Buford, Wyoming,
was purchased by Vietnamese businessman Pham Dinh Nguyen (38). He
bid $900,000 for Buford, which consists of a gas station and
convenience store, a 1905 schoolhouse, a cabin, a garage and a
three-bedroom house on 10 acres between Cheyenne and Laramie. The
town was formed as the Transcontinental Railroad was built in the
1860s. It was sold by Don Sammons, the self-proclaimed "mayor" who
owned it for the past two decades and was its sole inhabitant.
(AP, 4/13/12)
2012 Apr 5, In Afghanistan a
suicide bomber struck a bazaar in a northeastern district, killing
two people and wounding 16 others in the Kishim district of
Badakhshan province. A NATO service member died in a roadside bomb
explosion in the south.
(AP, 4/5/12)(AP, 4/6/12)
2012 Apr 5, In Argentina a
strong overnight storm in Buenos Aires blew down trees and destroyed
roofs, killing at least 13 people in the region and leaving more
than 20 injured.
(AP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 5, In Bangladesh
police discovered the badly injured body of Aminul Islam (40) dumped
by the roadside northwest of Dhaka, leading his supporters to point
the finger at Bangladesh's security forces. He had led a top union
that organized protests to increase the wages of the three million
workers in the garment sector. Top global retail associations soon
demanded a swift and impartial probe into his murder.
(AFP, 4/25/12)(AP, 5/9/12)
2012 Apr 5, Britain broadcaster
Sky News admitted it had authorized a journalist to access emails
belonging to John Darwin and his wife Anne, who had faked his death
in a canoe accident before moving to Panama to start a new life with
the insurance payout.
(AFP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 5, Around 20 million
Britons were banned from using garden hoses, after one of the driest
two-year periods on record.
(AFP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 5, In England a
Chinese student (24) died after he was knocked down by an unmarked
British police car in Birmingham.
(AFP, 4/6/12)
2012 Apr 5, Jaguar Land Rover,
owned by India's Tata Motors, announced that it plans to build its
new Jaguar F-Type sports car in Britain.
(AFP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 5, Egyptian security
forces and military aircraft searched south-eastern Sinai for
militants believed to be behind a rocket launch against Israel. A
rocket fired from Egypt's Sinai desert hit the southern Israeli
resort city of Eilat early today There were no injuries.
(AP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 5, In Italy Umberto
Bossi (70), the firebrand founder of a populist anti-immigrant
party, whose crucial support kept Silvio Berlusconi in power in
three governments, resigned as Northern League secretary amid a
widening corruption scandal over party funds.
(AP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 5, Japan passed a 90.3
trillion yen ($1.1 trillion) budget, with about half the spending
expected to be financed by new bonds that will add to its massive
debt mountain.
(AFP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 5, Malawi's President
Bingu wa Mutharika (78) died after a heart attack. Under the
constitution, Vice President Joyce Banda (b.1950) is next in line.
But that succession is politically fraught because Mutharika kicked
her out of the ruling party in 2010 as he chose to groom his brother
as heir apparent instead of her.
(AFP, 4/6/12)
2012 Apr 5, Malaysian police
arrested 137 people, mostly from China and Taiwan, in a raid in the
city of Kajang on a crime ring that bet on English football,
arranged Internet gambling and carried out online scams.
(AFP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 5, In Mali the
National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad, a rebel group
that recently seized control of the remote north, announced a
cease-fire saying they had reached their military goal. Ansar Dine
kidnapped seven Algerian diplomats in Gao. The Movement for Oneness
and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) later demanded 15 million euros for
the diplomats and 30 million for 3 aid workers kidnapped last Oct
23. On Sep 2 MUJAO said Tahar Touati, one of the diplomats, has been
executed.
(AP, 4/5/12)(AFP, 4/5/12)(AFP, 5/2/12)(AFP,
9/2/12)
2012 Apr 5, Nigerian
authorities said they have recovered a cache of arms, including
explosives and rocket launchers, in two separate raids in the
restive northern city of Gombe and arrested six suspects.
(AFP, 4/6/12)
2012 Apr 5, Dutch PM Mark Rutte
denounced Suriname's decision to grant amnesty to President Desi
Bouterse for crimes committed under his earlier military
dictatorship as "totally unacceptable" and recalled the country's
ambassador from its former colony in protest.
(AP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 5, In Pakistan a
Taliban suicide bomber detonated his explosives near a vehicle
carrying a senior police official in the southern port city of
Karachi, killing four people.
(AP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 5, Papua New Guinea's
parliament voted to postpone national polls for six months, sparking
public outrage.
(AFP, 4/10/12)
2012 Apr 5, In Peru 9 miners
were trapped after a horizontal mining shaft collapsed not very deep
under the surface. The miners were behind debris about six meters
(20 feet) wide that collapsed when they set off an explosion to
dislodge copper ore. On April 11 the miners walked free through a
newly built tunnel.
(AP, 4/7/12)(AFP, 4/11/12)
2012 Apr 5, Alexei Kudrin,
Russia's former finance minister (2000-2011), announced the creation
of an independent committee to shape policies alternative to those
of the government.
(AP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 5, In Somalia African
Union troops deployed in the city of Baidoa, the first time the
force has dispatched troops outside Mogadishu since it was set up
five years ago. Baidoa, located 250 km (155 miles) northwest of
Mogadishu, was the seat of Somalia's transitional parliament until
the hardline Shebab captured it three years ago.
(AFP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 5, In Syria fierce
clashes between government forces and rebels erupted near Damascus
ahead of an agreed truce. Some 2,500 crossed the border today,
bringing to 24,000 the number of Syrian refugees now in Turkey.
(AFP, 4/5/12)(AP, 4/6/12)
2012 Apr 5, A team led by a
Norwegian major general arrived in Damascus to negotiate the
possible deployment of a UN team that would monitor a cease-fire
agreement between Syrian government troops and rebel forces.
(AP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 5, In south-eastern
Turkey overnight blasts temporarily shut down a pipeline pumping oil
from Iraq. Kurdish rebels were suspected to be behind the
explosions.
(AFP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 5, Pope Benedict XVI
denounced priests who have questioned church teaching on celibacy
and ordaining women, saying they were disobeying his authority to
try to impose their own ideas on the church.
(AP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 5, A Vietnamese survey
reported that nearly a third of pre-school children in Vietnam
suffer from malnutrition and stunted growth, while in urban areas
rates of childhood obesity are rising. The study by the National
Institute of Nutrition was based on research in 2009 and 2010.
(AFP, 4/5/12)
2012 Apr 5, Yemen’s interior
minister said government troops have killed over 100 Al-Qaida
fighters in the past two days.
(SFC, 4/6/12, p.A2)
2012 Apr 5, Zimbabwe said it
had taken over majority shares from foreign mining firms which had
not sold 51 percent of their equity to black Zimbabweans, without
specifying which or how many firms were affected. The announcement
will be implemented retrospectively from September 25, 2011, when
companies had to hand in plans on how they intend to sell their
majority shares.
(AFP, 4/5/12)

2013 Apr 5, A US federal judge
ordered the Food and Drug Administration to make "morning-after"
emergency contraception pills available without a prescription to
all girls of reproductive age and criticized the Obama
administration for interfering with the process for political
purposes.
(Reuters, 4/5/13)
2013 Apr 5, A data leak was
reported orchestrated this week by a Washington-based group called
the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. It
involved tens of thousands of offshore bank accounts, mainly form
the British Virgin Islands, the Cook Islands and Singapore, and
named dozens of prominent figures around the world. New details were
being released by the day. The leak allegedly involved records from
10 tax havens.
(AP, 4/6/13)(SFC, 4/5/13, p.A4)
2013 Apr 5, US Army Gen. David
M. Rodriguez, one of the American military's most seasoned combat
leaders, took charge of US Africa Command. The AC’s No. 1 mission is
to work with allies to neutralize the continent's widening web of
Islamic extremist groups, including those affiliated with al-Qaida.
(AP, 4/5/13)
2013 Apr 5, In Oakland, Ca.,
Lionel Fluker (54), a former freelance photographer for the Oakland
Tribune, was shot a killed by a stray bullet as he drove home from a
gym. Donel Poston (37) was arrested on June 14 on suspicion of
attempting to murder Anthony Lister (38). On Sep 12 prosecutors
filed murder charges against Lister.
(SFC, 9/13/13, p.D7)
2013 Apr 5, In Florida the
parents of Travon Martin, the teenager who was fatally shot by a
neighborhood watch volunteer last year, settled a wrongful-death
claim against the homeowners association of the Florida subdivision
where their son was killed.
(AP, 4/5/13)
2013 Apr 5, In Afghanistan a
bomb attached to a donkey exploded, killing a policeman and wounded
three civilians in Laghman province.
(AP, 4/5/13)
2013 Apr 5, In Afghanistan
American contractor David Gordon (38), detained in a contract
dispute on April 3, was released. 3 US congressmen, who complained
about his detention, said he had been seized without charges and
beaten.
(AP, 4/5/13)
2013 Apr 5, Brazil’s Public
Ministry announced an investigation into a report connecting former
Pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to a vast vote-buying scheme that
involved the channeling of funds to the governing Workers’ Party.
(SSFC, 4/7/13, p.A6)
2013 Apr 5, Britain's most
high-profile entertainment retailer HMV was handed a lifeline when
Hilco, a turnaround group bought it in a deal worth about 50 million
pound, ensuring a future for a firm which gave the Beatles one of
their first big breaks.
(AP, 4/6/13)
2013 Apr 5, In Chile the
Ultraport company managing the Angamos port agreed to compensate
workers with a bonus following negotiations mediated by Chile's work
minister.
(AP, 4/6/13)
2013 Apr 5, In Indonesia’s in
North Sumatra province Buddhist fishermen and Rohingya Muslim asylum
seekers from Myanmar brawled with knives and rocks at an immigration
detention center, leaving 8 dead and another 15 injured. On Dec 5 a
court in medan sentenced 14 Rohingya to nine months in jail for the
role in the deadly brawl.
(AP, 4/5/13)(SFC, 12/6/13, p.A2)
2013 Apr 5, In Iran a road
accident killed 18 people, including 15 Afghans, after a truck
smuggling fuel slammed into a sedan packed with Afghans who were
being brought illegally into the country.
(AP, 4/5/13)
2013 Apr 5, In Iraq attackers
detonated a bomb as an army jeep was driving through the western
Baghdad neighborhood of Abu Ghraib, killing 3 soldiers. Another bomb
exploded near a vegetable stand, killing 3 civilians and wounding 15
in the Shiite-dominated city of Hillah. In Baqouba a roadside bomb
exploded as worshippers left a Sunni mosque, killing two and
wounding a dozen people.
(AP, 4/5/13)
2013 Apr 5, Israel forces took
Mohammad Khalek (14) into custody. 8 assault-rifle wielding soldiers
shackled and blindfolded the boy as his five siblings watched. The
military said Mohammad hurled rocks at Israeli vehicles on April 2
and at Israeli forces on several occasions. On April 17 the
Palestinian-American teenager was sentenced to two weeks in prison
for throwing rocks at Israeli forces.
(AP, 4/11/13)(AP, 4/17/13)
2013 Apr 5, Italy's Pres.
Giorgio Napolitano pardoned Joseph Romano, a US Air Force colonel,
convicted in absentia by Italian courts in the CIA-conducted
abduction of an Egyptian terror suspect from a Milan street. He
hoped the move would keep American-Italian relations strong,
especially on security matters.
(AP, 4/5/13)
2013 Apr 5, In Kazakhstan talks
began seeking to find common ground between Iran and a group of six
nations over concerns that Tehran might misuse its nuclear program
to make weapons.
(AP, 4/5/13)
2013 Apr 5, Mexico’s President
Enrique Pena Nieto visited Hong Kong, and said "I am convinced that
Mexican products should take advantage of the dynamism of China's
markets." A report by a chief economist for Bank of America Merrill
Lynch this week estimated that Mexico's labor costs are now 19.6
percent lower than China's.
(AP, 4/6/13)
2013 Apr 5, In southwest
Nigeria at least 36 people were killed in a bus crash in which a
gasoline tanker exploded in Edo state.
(AP, 4/6/13)
2013 Apr 5, North Korea warned
it could not guarantee the safety of diplomats after next Wednesday
and asked embassies to consider moving staff out of the country.
(Reuters, 4/5/13)
2013 Apr 5, In Pakistan 4
soldiers and 14 militants were killed as the army launched a ground
offensive in the Tirah Valley of the Khyber tribal area.
(AP, 4/5/13)
2013 Apr 5, Portugal’s
constitutional court struck down previously planned cuts in public
sector pay, pensions and benefits.
(Econ, 4/13/13, p.54)
2013 Apr 5, Russia's foreign
minister said Moscow doesn't understand why North Korea has
suggested that Moscow and other countries close their embassies in
Pyongyang, and he says he's concerned about the high tensions on the
Korean peninsula.
(AP, 4/5/13)
2013 Apr 5, South Korean media
reported that North Korea had placed two of its intermediate-range
missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them on the east coast of
the country in a move that could threaten Japan or US Pacific bases.
(AP, 4/5/13)
2013 Apr 5, In Syria a barrage
of rockets slammed into a contested district on the northeastern
edge of Damascus, killing at least five people and trapping others
under the rubble, while violence raged around suburbs of the
capital.
(AP, 4/5/13)
2013 Apr 5, Activists said
Tanzania's government is preparing to kick Maasai tribesmen off
their land near to allow a company from the United Arab Emirates to
use the land for hunting. Tanzania's Ministry of Natural Resources
and Tourism announced last week it is shrinking the size of the
Loliondo Game Controlled Areas.
(AP, 4/5/13)

2014 Apr 5, Atlanta’s Roman
Catholic Archbishop Wilton Gregory, in an effort to appease angry
parishioners, said that he will sell a $2.2 million mansion just
three months after he moved in.
(AP, 4/5/14)
2014 Apr 5, Peter Matthiessen
(b.1927), a co-founder of the Paris Review (1953) and two-time
winner of the National Book Award, died at a hospital on Long
Island. His books included “The Snow Leopard" (1978) and “Shadow
Country" (2008).
(SSFC, 4/6/14, p.A18)
2014 Apr 5, Afghans voted
nationwide, defying a threat of violence by the Taliban to cast
ballots in what promises to be the nation's first democratic
transfer of power. Around 60 percent of eligible voters cast their
ballots. Rocket attacks and gunbattles forced authorities to close
some 211 polling centers, raising the total number that weren't
opened because of security concerns to 959. 6,212 polling centers
were opened.
(AP, 4/5/14)(Reuters, 4/6/14)
2014 Apr 5, In Brazil more than
2,000 soldiers stormed into the Mare slum complex of Rio de Janeiro
with armored personnel carriers and helicopters in a bid to improve
security two months before the start of the World Cup.
(AP, 4/5/14)
2014 Apr 5, In northern
Cameroon two Italian priests and a Canadian nun working as
missionaries were abducted before dawn in their residences by two
armed groups. On June 1 the Vatican and Italy’s foreign ministry
said Gianantonio Allegri, Giampaolo Marta and Gilberte Bussier have
been released.
(AP, 4/5/14)(AP, 6/1/14)
2014 Apr 5, Chinese state media
reported that kindergarten headmaster Shi Haixia and a man were
sentenced to death in a poisoning case that left two girls dead.
Haixia was upset that a rival school had better enrollments and
injected rat poison into a bottle of yogurt. She then asked her
accomplice to place it on the road in late April 2013, with a
notebook and a pencil in a plastic bag on the way to the other
kindergarten in Pingshan County, Hebei province.
(AP, 4/5/14)(AFP, 4/6/14)
2014 Apr 5, In China workers in
Guangdong province walked out of factories owned by Yue Yuen, a
Taiwanese maker of branded shoes. The walkout grew to involve tens
of thousands of workers.
(Econ, 4/26/14, p.41)
2014 Apr 5, In Egypt at least
23 people were killed in overnight clashes between rival families in
the southern city of Aswan.
(Reuters, 4/5/14)
2014 Apr 5, The European Union
said it plans to set up an international court in Kosovo to deal
with alleged crimes committed by ethnic-Albanian guerrillas during
the war with Serbia.
(AFP, 4/5/14)
2014 Apr 5, In France Anne
Hidalgo (54), the first female mayor of Paris, took office, hailing
a "great advance for all women" and saying she feels the weight of
responsibility in her new job.
(AP, 4/5/14)
2014 Apr 5, In Iraq an
explosion at a booby-trapped house near Fallujah, ensuing clashes
with militants and roadside bombings killed 21 soldiers.
(SSFC, 4/6/14, p.A2)
2014 Apr 5, In Mali former
planning minister Moussa Mara (39) was promoted to the premiership
after Mali's first post-war PM Oumar Tatam Ly (50) quit just six
months into office. Ly had reportedly become frustrated over being
unable to enact reforms in the administration.
(AFP, 4/6/14)
2014 Apr 5, In northern Nigeria
gunmen believed to be Fulani herdsmen stormed a meeting in Yar
Galadima, Zamfara state. The clashes between suspected Fulani cattle
rustlers mounted on motorbikes and local youth vigilantes left 72
people dead.
(AFP, 4/6/14)(Reuters, 4/7/14)
2014 Apr 5, In Nigeria Umar
Sani (35) hosted a small wedding celebration at his home in the
small Kano village of Unguwar Yansoro. Wasila Tasi'u was 14 when she
married Umar Sani. Prosecutors later claimed that Tasi'u prepared
food and laced it with rat poison before serving it to her guests.
Four people, including Sani, died within hours of eating the meal.
(AFP, 5/20/15)
2014 Apr 5, Panama’s President
Ricardo Martinelli inaugurated Central America's first subway
system, the most-emblematic project of a five-year term marked by
fast economic growth and more than a hint of hubris.
(AP, 4/5/14)
2014 Apr 5, South Sudanese
President Salva Kiir arrived in Khartoum to meet Sudanese President
Omar Bashir.
(AP, 4/5/14)
2014 Apr 5, In Spain British
millionaire Andrew Bush (48) was shot and killed in his home on
Spain's Costa del Sol. In 2016 his former girlfriend, Slovakian
model Maria Kukucova (26), was found guilty of the murder.
(AP, 5/27/16)
2014 Apr 5, In Syria mortar
shells continued to hit Damascus and the central city of Homs amid
heavy fighting. A rocket hit Homs and struck a market in the western
neighborhood of Inshaat, killing six people.
(AP, 4/5/14)
2014 Apr 5, Thousands of Thai
pro-government "Red Shirts" massed in a show of support for PM
Yingluck Shinawatra, warning that they would resist attempts to oust
her through the courts.
(AFP, 4/5/14)
2014 Apr 5, Ukraine rejected
Russia's latest gas price hike and threatened to take its
energy-rich neighbor to arbitration court over a dispute that could
imperil deliveries to western Europe.
(AFP, 4/5/14)
2014 Apr 5, Ukraine’s security
service said it has detained a 15-strong armed gang planning to
seize power in Luhansk province. Weapons seized included 300 machine
guns, an anti-tank grenade launcher and a large number of grenades.
(SSFC, 4/6/14, p.A5)
2014 Apr 5, UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon traveled to Central African Republic
for the first time since the country erupted into sectarian
bloodshed four months ago. Ban has urged council members to act
quickly on his recommendation for a 12,000-member peacekeeping
mission.
(AP, 4/5/14)

2015 Apr 5, Rolling Stone
magazine withdrew and apologized for a discredited story last
November about a gang rape on a US college campus in Virginia,
publishing a review of the debacle that found "avoidable" failures
in basic journalism practices.
(AP, 4/6/15)
2015 Apr 5, Fredric Brandt
(b.1949)), celebrity dermatologist, died in Florida. Brandt, dubbed
the “Baron of Botox," was the author of two books about the skin
aging process and retention of youthful appearance.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredric_Brandt)(Econ., 4/11/15, p.86)
2015 Apr 5, The Afghan Taliban
published a descriptive biography of their "charismatic" supreme
leader Mullah Omar, in a surprise move apparently aimed at
countering the creeping influence of the Islamic State group within
insurgent ranks.
(AFP, 4/5/15)
2015 Apr 5, Bangladesh’s former
premier and main opposition leader Khaleda Zia was granted bail in
two graft cases after she appeared before a special court.
(Reuters, 4/5/15)
2015 Apr 5, In Bangladesh a
severe storm killed at least 24 people and injured dozens more,
mostly in Bogra district in the northern part of the country.
(Reuters, 4/5/15)
2015 Apr 5, In southern China 7
members of a family on a holiday outing drowned when a 17-year-old
girl fell into a reservoir and several relatives dove in after her
in a deadly attempt to rescue her in Shantou, Guangdong province.
(AP, 4/6/15)
2015 Apr 5, In Egypt a bomb
blast on a bridge leading to an upscale neighborhood in central
Cairo killed a policeman and wounded at least two passers-by. The
group Ajnad Misr claimed responsibility. Security forces said Hamam
Mohamed Attia, the founder and leader of Ajnad Misr, was killed by
security forces early today.
(AP, 4/5/15)(Reuters, 4/5/15)
2015 Apr 5, In France an
18-day-old dispute at Radio France stemmed from concerns over job
losses and service reductions aimed at reining in a budget deficit.
The longest strike in a decade at France's public radio broadcaster
has left paralyzed news stations playing music and shows no sign of
ending after weekend talks failed to defuse a standoff over cost
cuts.
(Reuters, 4/5/15)
2015 Apr 5, In Germany Israeli
citizen Yosi Damari was found killed in the ruins of a Berlin church
with massive injuries to his head. On April 10 an Albanian man was
arrested in the Czech Republic on suspicion of beating Damari to
death.
(AP, 4/8/15)(AFP, 4/10/15)
2015 Apr 5, Indian police
arrested former nightclub bouncer Raminder Singh (28) wanted in
connection with two sex attacks in Britain. He was arrested in New
Delhi after three years on the run.
(AFP, 4/7/15)
2015 Apr 5, In Iraq three
separate attacks in Baghdad killed at least 9 people and wounded
others.
(AP, 4/5/15)
2015 Apr 5, Kenya identified
one of the al Shabaab gunmen who massacred students at Garissa
University as Abdirahim Abdullahi, a university of Nairobi law
graduate and the son of government official in Mandera county.
(Reuters, 4/5/15)(AFP, 4/5/15)
2015 Apr 5, In Libya a suicide
bomber killed at least 6 people outside the militia-controlled third
city Misrata in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
(AFP, 4/5/15)(Econ., 4/11/15, p.44)
2015 Apr 5, Malawi’s police
chief ordered police this weekend to shoot "dangerous criminals" who
attack albinos in order to sell their body parts for witchcraft.
(AFP, 4/6/15)
2015 Apr 5, Malaysian police
detained 17 suspected militants. Authorities the next day said the
militants had planned to attack police stations and army camps to
acquire weapons and carry out terrorist attacks in Kuala Lumpur and
that two of the militants had just returned from Syria.
(SFC, 4/7/15, p.A2)
2015 Apr 5, In northern Mali
one person was killed and three injured as unidentified assailants
shelled the city of Gao.
(AP, 4/5/15)
2015 Apr 5, In northeastern
Nigeria suspected Boko Haram gunmen opened fire on villagers and
torched a number of buildings in a new attack in Kwajaffa, Borno
state.
(AFP, 4/5/15)
2015 Apr 5, In northwest
Pakistan Mir Ahmad Shah (25) gunned down his former fiancée and nine
of her relatives, six months after murdering his own parents and two
brothers for refusing to pay his dowry.
(AFP, 4/5/15)
2015 Apr 5, Palestinian Pres.
Mahmoud Abbas threatened to turn to the International Criminal Court
over Israel's refusal to fully release hundreds of millions of
dollars in tax monies owed the Palestinian Authority. He rejected an
Israeli transfer of millions because of deductions for utility debts
owed to Israel.
(AFP, 4/5/15)(SFC, 4/6/15, p.A2)
2015 Apr 5, A Palestinian
official said around 2,000 people have been evacuated from the
Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus after the Islamic State group
seized large parts of it.
(AFP, 4/5/15)
2015 Apr 5, In eastern Saudi
Arabia a policeman was killed and three were wounded during a raid
in al-Awamiya, a predominantly Shiite town.
(AP, 4/6/15)
2015 Apr 5, In South Africa
statue of Afrikaner hero Paul Kruger was defaced in Pretoria, the
latest in a series of anti-colonial protests that has forced the
country to square its racist past with the spirit of reconciliation
championed by Nelson Mandela.
(AFP, 4/6/15)
2015 Apr 5, In Spain Denise
Thiem (41) of Arizona was last seen walking along the St. James Way
pilgrimage route at the town of Astorga. On Sep 11 suspect Miguel
Angel Munoz (39) led police to her body and was arrested in
Asturias.
(AP, 9/12/15)
2015 Apr 5, In Switzerland CERN
said the world's largest particle smasher has restarted after a
two-year upgrade that will allow physicists to explore uncharted
corners of the matter that makes up the universe.
(AFP, 4/5/15)
2015 Apr 5, In eastern Ukraine
6 soldiers were killed in two separate incidents as isolated clashes
continue to violate a fragile ceasefire to end the year-long war.
(AFP, 4/5/15)
2015 Apr 5, In Yemen warplanes
from a Saudi-led coalition bombed Sanaa overnight on the eleventh
day of a campaign against Iran-allied Houthi. A senior Houthi member
said Yemen's Houthis are ready to sit down for peace talks as long
as a Saudi-led air campaign is halted and the negotiations are
overseen by "non-aggressive" parties. Armed tribesmen deployed in
the streets of Mukalla, pushing al Qaeda fighters out of much of the
eastern port town three days after the militants overran it.
Houthis, along with allied security forces loyal to the ousted
President Ali Abdullah Saleh, carried out a number of overnight
raids arresting leading Islah Party members Mohammed Qahtan and
Hassan al-Yaeri, along with more than 120 others. Houthi militiamen,
supported by army units, gained ground in the southern city of
Aden.
(Reuters, 4/5/15)(AP, 4/5/15)

2016 Apr 5, The United States
and its allies conducted 23 strikes against Islamic State in Syria
and Iraq.
(Reuters, 4/6/16)
2016 Apr 5, San Francisco
became the first US city to require six weeks of paid leave for new
parents. The SF Board of Supervisors enacted expansive anti-eviction
protections for tenants who work in SF schools.
(SFC, 4/6/16, p.A1)
2016 Apr 5, Mississippi’s Gov.
Phil Bryant signed House Bill 1523 allowing religious groups and
some private businesses to refuse service to gay couples based on
religious beliefs. On May 9 a suit was filed against the measure due
to become law on July 1.
(SFC, 4/6/16, p.A12)(SFC, 5/10/16, p.A6)
2016 Apr 5, PayPal became the
first and only prominent tech company to commit moving operations
out of North Carolina, whose governor last week signed into law a
bill that bars local governments from passing antidiscrimination
protections for LGBT people.
(SFC, 4/6/16, p.C1)
2016 Apr 5, In Texas the body
of Haruka Weiser (18), a dance major from Portland, Oregon, was
discovered in a creek near the Univ. of Texas alumni center and
football stadium in the heart of campus. On April 8 police announced
the arrest of a suspect. On June 10 Meechaiel Criner (17), a runaway
from the state’s foster care system, was indicted on a capital
murder charge.
(AP, 4/8/16)(SFC, 6/11/16, p.A5)
2016 Apr 5, In Wisconsin Ted
Cruz beat Republican front-runner Donald Trump soundly, winning most
of the state’s delegates and raising the probability of a contested
GOP convention in July. Upstart senator Bernie Sanders also beat
Democrat frontrunner Hillary Clinton, bolstering his claim to be a
viable alternative standard-bearer to the former secretary of state
and first lady.
(AFP, 4/6/16)
2016 Apr 5, Ford announced
plans for a new $1.6 billion auto assembly plant in Mexico, creating
about 2,800 jobs and shifting small car production from the US.
(SFC, 4/6/16, p.C6)
2016 Apr 5, In Afghanistan a
suicide bomber on a motorbike detonated his explosives near a busy
bazaar in northern Parwan province, killing at least 6 people.
(AP, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 5, Azerbaijan and
Armenian separatists in Nagorny Karabakh said they had halted
fighting after four days of bloodshed, as international powers
scramble to resolve the worst violence in decades over the disputed
region. The ceasefire was brokered in Moscow. The 4-day war left an
estimated 200 people dead.
(AFP, 4/5/16)(Econ, 4/9/16, p.53)(Econ, 5/21/16,
p.46)
2016 Apr 5, In Brazil a Supreme
Court judge ruled that the lower house of Congress must open
impeachment proceedings against Vice-President Michel Temer because
he faces the same allegations of breaking fiscal rules as Pres.
Rousseff.
(SFC, 4/6/16, p.A2)
2016 Apr 5, In Brazil a gas
explosion ripped through an apartment complex north of Rio de
Janeiro early today, killing 5 people and injuring 13.
(AFP, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 5, China banned most
imports of North Korean coal and iron ore, the country's main
exports, in a significant increase in pressure on the North under UN
sanctions against its nuclear and missile tests.
(AP, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 5, China denounced
accusations arising from a massive leak from a Panamanian law firm
as "groundless" and moved to limit coverage of documents that may
have exposed financial wrongdoing by some of the world's rich and
powerful.
(Reuters, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 5, French finance
minister Michel Sapin said France will put Panama back on its
blacklist of uncooperative tax jurisdictions, after media
revelations about a Panamanian law firm specialised in setting up
offshore firms.
(Reuters, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 5, Paris riot police
fired tear gas and charged youths throwing stones, bottles and eggs
during fresh protests against France's proposed labor reforms,
making over 100 arrests.
(AFP, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 5, German Justice
Minister Heiko Maas said Germany plans to introduce a new national
transparency register to make offshore companies disclose their
owners' identity, as part of the fight against tax evasion and the
financing of terrorism.
(Reuters, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 5, Iceland's PM
Sigurdur David Gunnlaugsson (41) asked Pres. Olafur Ragnar Grimsson
to dissolve parliament as his government reeled from a political
crisis over the so-called Panama Papers, but the president refused.
Gunnlaugsson stepped down, the first major political casualty to
emerge from the massive leak of 11.5 million documents detailing
hidden offshore accounts held by world leaders and celebrities.
(AFP, 4/5/16)(AFP, 4/6/16)
2016 Apr 5, The Indian state of
Bihar completely banned the sale of alcohol in a surprise move,
including liquor at bars and hotels.
(AP, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 5, The Int’l. Criminal
Court (ICC) terminated the case against Kenya’s deputy president
William Ruto saying there was insufficient evidence he was involved
in violence following presidential elections in 2007.
(SFC, 4/6/16, p.A2)
2016 Apr 5, In Nigeria angry
motorists queued overnight at petrol stations across the country and
lines of cars blocked traffic in the commercial capital Lagos as the
worst fuel shortages for years hit Africa's top oil producer.
(Reuters, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 5, Thirteen North
Koreans working at a restaurant in China defected. They traveled to
a Southeast Asian country before being flown to South Korea.
(AP, 4/8/16)(AP, 4/11/16)
2016 Apr 5, President Vladimir
Putin said Russia is creating a national guard to fight terrorism
and organized crime.
(Reuters, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 5, Saudi police
Colonel Kattab Majid al-Hammadi was shot dead in the Riyadh region
in an attack claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.
(AFP, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 5, South Africa's
parliament began a debate on a motion to impeach President Jacob
Zuma after the constitutional court ruled that he breached the
constitution by ignoring an order to repay some of the $16 million
in state funds spent on his private home.
(Reuters, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 5, In Sweden Meg
Rosoff (59) was named the winner of the 5 million kronor ($615,000)
Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for literature aimed at children and
young adults. A Boston native living in London, Rosoff's novels
include "How I Live Now" (2004), "Just in Case" (2006) and "What I
Was" (2007).
(AP, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 5, Syrian insurgents
shot down a government warplane in the north of the country and
shelled a predominantly Kurdish neighborhood in the city of Aleppo.
A pregnant woman and three children were among 18 civilians killed
when Syrian rebels shelled a Kurdish neighborhood in Aleppo.
(AP, 4/5/16)(AFP, 4/6/16)
2016 Apr 5, In Syria Rifai
Ahmad Taha, a senior Egyptian al-Qaida figure, was killed along with
several others in a US drone strike. Before joining al-Qaida, Taha
was a top figure in Egypt's notorious militant group Gamaa Islamiya,
which massacred 58 foreign tourists in the ancient Egyptian city of
Luxor in 1997.
(AP, 4/8/16)
2016 Apr 5, Turkish police
detained almost 70 businessmen, local officials and teachers in a
new nationwide sweep against supporters of Pres. Erdogan's arch foe.
(AFP, 4/5/16)
2016 Apr 5, Shelling from Yemen
killed two people in a Saudi town, in a rare breach of a calm in the
border area agreed with Iran-backed rebels early last month.
(AFP, 4/6/16)

2017 Apr 5, US Homeland
Security Secretary John Kelly said parents and children caught
crossing the Mexican border illegally won't be separated unless the
"situation at the time requires it."
(AP, 4/5/17)
2017 Apr 5, Basque political
parties said they hoped a pledge by militant separatist group ETA to
disarm this weekend would draw a line under a decades-long campaign
that killed more than 800 people across Spain.
(Reuters, 4/5/17)
2017 Apr 5, Britain said it
would help Saudi Arabia to diversify its oil-dependent economy as PM
Theresa May visited the Gulf kingdom.
(AFP, 4/5/17)
2017 Apr 5, London police on
behalf of the Kuwaiti authorities arrested Fahad al-Rajaan (68), the
former head of Kuwait's social security fund convicted in his home
country of corruption and embezzling public money.
(Reuters, 4/6/17)
2017 Apr 5, China and Finland
will increase cooperation under the China-European Union framework,
President Xi Jinping said after arriving in Finland for his first
visit as head of state.
(Reuters, 4/5/17)
2017 Apr 5, European Union
lawmakers adopted a resolution setting their red lines for the
two-year divorce talks with Britain and rejected attempts by British
MEPs to recognize Gibraltar's pro-EU stance in the Brexit
referendum.
(Reuters, 4/5/17)
2017 Apr 5, German conglomerate
JAB, owner of Krispy Cream and other food brands, announced that it
was taking over the St. Louis-based Panera Bread bakery chain for
$7.5 billion.
(Econ, 4/15/17, p.26)
2017 Apr 5, Kuwait said it has
signed a new a multi-billion-dollar deal to supply Egypt with crude
oil and petroleum products for the next three years.
(AFP, 4/5/17)
2017 Apr 5, North Korea
conducted another ballistic missile test in defiance of UN
sanctions. The projectile went about 37 miles into the East Sea.
(SFC, 4/5/17, p.A4)
2017 Apr 5, Norway said it
plans to build a 5,610-foot tunnel for ships. The Stad Ship Tunnel
was expected to open in 2023 at a cost of $314 million.
(SFC, 4/7/17, p.A6)
2017 Apr 5, In Poland
opposition lawmakers called for the dismissal of Defence Minister
Antoni Macierewicz, saying he is undermining the nation's armed
forces with dismissals and demotions of high-ranking officers who
aren't his allies.
(AP, 4/5/17)
2017 Apr 5, In Somalia a
massive car bomb blast at a restaurant in Mogadishu killed at least
seven people.
(AP, 4/5/17)
2017 Apr 5, Hundreds of South
Sudanese refugees fled into Uganda for a second day, bearing further
grim testimony of an attack by government forces on the border town
of Pajok in which at least 17 people were killed.
(Reuters, 4/5/17)
2017 Apr 5, In Switzerland
Geneva's regional council voted to modify a 1929 ordinance that
banned women from swimming topless in the city's main natural
waterways. The change doesn't apply to public swimming pools or
swimming totally naked.
(AP, 4/6/17)
2017 Apr 5, In Syria US-backed
fighters laid siege to the northern town of Tabqa, an Islamic State
stronghold. IS militants killed 33 young men in eastern Syria, close
to the border with Iraq, according to Syrian opposition activists.
(AP, 4/6/17)
2017 Apr 5, Venezuela's
opposition's lawmakers gathered from dawn, some carrying injuries
from protests, to seek the dismissal of Supreme Court judges whom
they accuse of propping up a dictatorship.
(Reuters, 4/5/17)